Washington: Offering fresh insights into how plants regulate genetic material so that some genes are turned on while others are turned off, a new study has revealed how plants could better adapt to and survive environmental swings such as droughts or floods.
"If you understand how plants regulate their genetic material, you can possibly manipulate that in certain circumstances so that plants can withstand environmental changes," said Daniel Vera from the Florida State University (FSU).
The study showed how chromatin (a complex of macromolecules found in cells, consisting of DNA, protein and RNA) is organised in a cell.
This could mean major advances for the agriculture industry, the study noted.
The research team exposed 12 different samples of a maize genome to an enzyme to cut through the DNA, except where it was protected by proteins - a method to chart the so-called chromatin landscape.
Despite careful control of the experiment, certain regions of DNA differed wildly from one sample to the next.
Eventually, the group discovered that these variable regions were hypersensitive to the enzyme.
Once they discovered the root of the problem, researchers were able to control the enzyme reaction and show that these same regions were likely sites of genetic regulation.
"We have found new ways to see really important parts of the chromatin," said Hank Bass, Associate Professor at FSU.
"People just missed it before," Bass added.
Though the research was conducted on maize tissues, the results and protocol established through the research are translatable to other plants and mammals.
The findings appeared in the journal The Plant Cell.
Comments
| Quick linksNews
National
International
Regional
Politics
Education & Career
Business
Science & Technology
Health
Views & Analysis
The Funny Side
© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.
Even as the names of Health Minister Laxmikant Parsenkar and assembly Speaker Rajendra Arlekar appear to have made the cut for the top position, three out of the six Catholic legislators in the BJP Friday demanded that a Catholic legislator should .... More
Also Read: Goa to get new CM Saturday: Parrikar
Sajid Javid, Britain's secretary of state - or cabinet minister - for culture, media and sport, has disclosed that his father was from India and his mother from Pakistan. This obviously makes him half-Indian and, therefore, the first person of Indian origin .... More
Ladies and Gentlemen, this man is sulking. Clearly. He didn't get the leftover crumbs from the BJP table. Hence all this hullabaloo. Throw some at him and he will be back to issuing his support for BJP under PM Modi in the next general elections .This Imam is craving for attention. Don't feed the..... More
In November 2013 while handing over the task of dumping the city wastes and garbage to a private contractor, Mayor Tahira Shaikh Rasheed had promised to convert Malegaon into Singapore. No litter will be seen anywhere from now on, and the city roads .... More