"Discovery and Functional Analysis of Plant Small Silencing RNAs," will be presented by Michael Axtell of Penn State University at 4 p.m., April 23 in E103 Beadle Center. The free, public seminar will be preceded by a reception at 3:30 p.m.
Plant small silencing RNAs, which include miRNAs and siRNAs, are key regulators of gene expression and chromatin status. They function as guides that select RNA targets for various forms of repression. Every plant produces millions of different siRNAs and miRNAs, from tens of thousands of loci. Axtell's research group has made significant progress in devsing computational methods for rational discovery and annotation of these large gene sets.
In addition, Axtell's research group has extensively tested the effects of varying complementarity patterns between miRNAs and their targets using a novel, quantitiative assay. Most significantly, they have found that a few mismatches between miRNA and target often enhances repression efficacy.
The complete schedule of seminars may be found at http://biotech.unl.edu/.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/efix