Functional analysis of a drosophila micro-RNA and experimental validation of Targets

• Applicant: Dr. Jishy Varghese
• Subject Area: Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2005 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5454455

Spatial and temporal regulation of expression of genes plays key roles in development of multi-cellular organisms. The information present in genes is transcribed in the form of messenger RNAs during the process of transcription. The message carried by the messenger RNAs is then translated to produce proteins, which then take part in different biological functions during development. The regulation of these processes are complex but has been studied quite extensively. Recently, a new way of regulation of gene expression at the level of translation of messenger RNAs by a class of molecules called microRNAs was discovered in a species of worms. MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules and preliminary studies have reported a large number of microRNAs in plants and animals. A single microRNA is proposed to have the ability to regulate multiple genes. Thus this class of molecules becomes strong regulators of gene expression in multicellular organisms. MicroRNAs regulate target genes whose messenger RNAs share partial nucleic acid sequenes similarity with them by binding and inhibiting protein production. However, experimental evidence for regulation of genes by microRNAs is limited to few examples. Drosophila genome contains about 100 microRNAs, but biological function of only three of them has been proven experimentally so far. The aim of this project is to characterize biological functions of Drosophila microRNAs. I plan to study the effect ob absence of a specific microRNA to the normal development of Drosophila. The expression of this microRNA during different stages of development will be studied. I also propose to analyze the regulation of target genes, predicted by a computational program generated in our lab, by this microRNA. This study will thus help immensely in understanding the function of microRNAs during Drosophila development and also aid in improving our knowledge of gene regulation by microRNAs.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• Host: Dr. Stephen M. Cohen