UD Leads Research Project on Rice Epigenetics

Using a new technology that can decode 50 million sequences equivalent to over a billion bases of DNA in just one fell swoop, scientists from the University of Delaware (UD) are working on a project to advance the understanding of the rice epigenome- a series of biochemical modifications of the DNA that can either silence or turn on gene expression. The four year project, supported by a $5.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, may lead to the development of rice strains capable of withstanding adverse conditions as well as shed light on similar mechanisms in corn and other important cereal grains that are closely related to rice.  

The project will be headed by Blake Meyers, associate professor of plant and soil sciences at UD, and will include rice biologists, computer scientists and plant pathologists from the US Department of Agriculture, University of California and Ohio State University.

“Epigenetics refers to a heritable change that is not a result of a change in DNA sequence, but rather a chemical modification of nucleotides in the DNA or its associated proteins,” Meyers said. “That means that these changes can be reversible, and it's easier to switch them on or off. Small RNAs are one of the key 'control switches,' directing these modifications,” Meyers noted.

Read more at  http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2008/sep/rice091007.html.