Measurement of temperature exposure and integration over time
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
All organisms have to cope with changing termperature and various mechanisms have evolved to protect cellular processes against thermal extremes. Some organisms exploit changing temperature to help gauge seasons and align their development with favourable conditions. Natural temperature profiles vary over timescales of weeks and months and how these enormously variable termperature signals are dcided into seasonsal timing information is unknown. We intend to discover how variable temperature signals are mesured and integrated over prolonged periods and used to time developmental decisions. Alignment of development with temperature cues is centrally important in plants so we will exploit our knowledge of the cultiple regulatory pathways determining quantitative expression of the plant developmental repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). These pathways, which are all independently regtulated by temperature, converge to regulate FLC via aspects of a co-transcriptional mechanism involving antisense transcripts and different chromatin pathways. This understanding provides the system to define the primary temperature steps (thermo-sensors) that directly regulate FLC and explore how they combine to record complex temperature signals. Our hypothesis is that different thermo-sensors monitor distinct aspects of the long- term temperature profile. Their outputs would be integrated voa accumulation of chromatin modifications at FLC with feedback and interconnection between the pathways providing reinforcement systems to record previous exposure. Modulation of this mechanism would then provide the basis for adaptation to different climates. Knowledge emerging from this study should provide concepts that help to understand how natural temperature signals are used by many organisms for biological timing.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Caroline Dean (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Antoniou-Kourounioti RL
(2018)
Temperature Sensing Is Distributed throughout the Regulatory Network that Controls FLC Epigenetic Silencing in Vernalization.
in Cell systems
Berry S
(2015)
Local chromatin environment of a Polycomb target gene instructs its own epigenetic inheritance.
in eLife
Berry S
(2015)
Environmental perception and epigenetic memory: mechanistic insight through FLC.
in The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology
Bloomer RH
(2017)
Fine-tuning timing: natural variation informs the mechanistic basis of the switch to flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana.
in Journal of experimental botany
Dean C
(2017)
What holds epigenetic memory?
in Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology
Duncan S
(2015)
Seasonal shift in timing of vernalization as an adaptation to extreme winter.
in eLife
Hepworth J
(2015)
Flowering Locus C's Lessons: Conserved Chromatin Switches Underpinning Developmental Timing and Adaptation.
in Plant physiology
Hepworth J
(2018)
Absence of warmth permits epigenetic memory of winter in Arabidopsis.
in Nature communications
Li P
(2015)
Phenotypic evolution through variation in splicing of the noncoding RNA COOLAIR.
in Genes & development
| Description | Using field experiments we have investigated adaptation to different environmental conditions. We studied how plants register the noisy temperature signals over autumn/winter seasons to align flowering with spring. In Arabidopsis thaliana, this mechanism is principally controlled through silencing of the locus, FLOWERING LOCUS C(FLC). Multiple, distinct phases regulate expression and silencing of FLC, with temperature sensing distributed throughout the regulatory network. However, which phases are important in adaptation to a range of climates is unknown. Using experiments with mutants and natural variants over multiple years, we identified which regulators of FLC expression are most important in natural field conditions. We found that cis variation defining the major FLC haplotypes in the worldwide Arabidopsis population influences multiple aspects of FLC expression in the field; starting transcription level, rate of cold-induced transcriptional silencing, rate of epigenetic silencing. Comparison of different sites in different years shows that starting FLC transcription levels are of central importance to adaptation, through prevention of flowering in warm autumns. Analysis of mutants defective in FLC silencing in the field provided additional detailed mechanistic understanding of the cold-induced epigenetic silencing of FLC, which is providing important paradigms for the whole epigenetic field: 1. role of RNA:DNA hybrids in transcription and chromatin modification 2. cis versus trans regulation in chromatin modification 3. commonalities in primary thermosensing steps 4. interpreting a signal from noisy environmental cues. An important conclusion we have found is that plants monitor peak and trough temperatures, as well as average temperature to integrate the noisy temperature profiles experienced in natural conditions. |
| Exploitation Route | It will be most use in the biotech field or in cancer therapeutics |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| URL | https://www.jic.ac.uk/staff/caroline-dean/ |
| Description | Several breeding companies have read the research and then contacted me to discuss molecular breeding strategies in a range of crops |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | GCRF databases and Resources phase 2 |
| Amount | £98,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2017 |
| End | 07/2018 |
| Description | Mechanistic basis of nucleation and spreading underlying a Polycomb-mediated epigenetic switch (EPISWITCH) |
| Amount | € 2,100,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 833254 |
| Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Chair and invited lecture at the EMBO 2016 meeting in Mannheim, Germany. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean chaired and gave an invited lecture entitled: "Antisense-mediated chromatin silencing at FLC" at the EMBO 2016 meeting in Mannheim, Germany. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited lecture at an EMBO workshop in Stockholm. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean gave an invited lecture, entitled: "Antisense-mediated chromatin silencing at FLC" at an EMBO workshop in Stockholm on 12 June 2016. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited lecture at the Institute Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College/UCL. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited to give a lecture about epigenetic switching entitled: ""Sensing and Remembering Winter" at the Institute Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College/UCL. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Abcam Meeting, Copenhagen |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited speaker at an Abcam meeting in Copenhagen. She delivered a talk entitled: "Antisense-mediated chromatin silencing at FLC". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Imperial College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited speaker at Imperial College, Hammersmith Campus Institute of Clinical Sciences. She delivered a talk entitled: "Epigenetic switching in seasonal timing". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Peking University, Beijing, China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Dean was invited to speak at Peking University, Beijing, China, on the 1st June. Her seminar was entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Sustech Shenzhei, China. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Dean was invited to speak at Sustech Shenzhei, China on the 28th May. Her seminar was entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Tsinghua University, China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Dean was invited to speak at Tsughua University, China, on the 30th May. Her seminar was entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Villars Symposium 2016 - Non-coding RNAs: Function and Evolution. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker at Villars Symposium 2016 - Non-coding RNAs: Function and Evolution. Seminar title: "Antisense-mediated chromatin silencing at FLC". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at Wellcome Trust Plant 'Genomes in a Changing Environment' meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Dean gave the keynote lecture on the 24th October 2018 at the Wellcome Trust Hixton Hall Plant Genomes in a Changing Environment meeting. Her talk was entitled: 'Adapting to different winters'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited speaker at international Arabidopsis meeting in Turku Finland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the 27th June Caroline gave an invited talk at the international Arabidopsis conference in Turku, Finland entitled: 'Sensing and remembering winter'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited speaker at the EMBO Non-coding RNA meeting, Heidelberg. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited speaker at the EMBO Non-coding RNA meeting in Heidelberg. Talk title: "Antisense-mediated chromatin silencing at FLC". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at the Garnet Natural Variation meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited speaker at the Garnet Natural Variation meeting in Cambridge (12th -13th December 2016). Talk entitled: "Natural Variation in Vernalization". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker at the University of Sheffield. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited to speak at the University of Sheffield. She delivered a talk entitled: "Epigenetic switching in seasonal timing". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited speaker to the Genetic Society meeting in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean was invited to speak at the Genetic Society meeting in London (10th-11th November 2016). Talk title: "Non-coding sequence variation influencing natural variation in vernalization in Arabidopsis" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Keynote Lecture at International Congress of Genetics, Iguassu, Brazil |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | ON the 11th September 2018 Caroline Dean gave the Keynote Lecture at the International Congress of Genetics, Iguassu, Brazil, entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | McClintock Lecture Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Dean gave the Barbara McClintock Lecture at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory NY on chromatin regulation and evolutionary adaptation. The talk stimulated discussion and questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://cshlwise.org/institutional-events/mcclintock-lectures/ |
| Description | Seminar given at University of Rennes entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On the 14th May 2018 Caroline Dean gave a seminar at the University of Rennes entitled: 'Epigenetic switching and antisense transcription'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk at Norwich Science Festival 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Caroline Dean gave a talk entitled: "Sensing and Remembering Winter" to the general public at the Norwich Science Festival on the 24th October 2016. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Visit to Oxford University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Caroline Dean visited Oxford University on the 14th-15th July 2016 for discussions about general chromatin mechanisms with Profs Mellor, Proudfoot, Klose and Brockdorff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |