Identification of novel RNA masking system during deacclimation of Arabidopsis plants

Abstract

Overwintering plants are capable of exhibiting high levels of freezing tolerance, which is acquired through cold acclimation. In contrast, the acquired freezing tolerance is rapidly reduced in deacclimation and plants resume growth after sensing warm temperature. It is important to clarify the mechanism of deacclimation for understanding plant growth and development. However the detailed mechanism of deacclimation is not fully understood.
In order to understand the molecular mechanism of deacclimation, we focused on the RNA masking system, which is an RNA regulation mechanism in translational step. RNA masking regulates protein expression by repressing translation and the translation is started by environmental changes or developmental signals. To identify the target mRNAs of RNA masking, we performed comparative analysis between transcriptome and proteome. According to these analyses, we identified several candidates of target mRNAs whose proteins were specifically increased in deacclimation. These target mRNAs encoded enzymes involved in primary metabolism providing energy to resume plant growth. The initial response of plants in deacclimation will be discussed.