2020/03/23
Keio University
Sanyo-Onoda City University
RIKEN
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)
A group of researchers, including Assistant Professor Takahiro Yamada and Associate Professor Akira Funahashi of the Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University; Yusuke Hiki (a first-year master's student at the Graduate School of Science and Technology); Professor Yoshiko Hiroi of Sanyo-Onoda City University; Dr. Elena Shagimardanova of Kazan Federal University; Unit Leader Oleg Gusev of RIKEN; and Senior Researcher Richard Cornette and Principal Investigator Takahiro Kikawada of NARO, has for the first time in the world identified the gene regulatory network—the control relationships between genes that constitute the desiccation tolerance system of Pv11 cells, which can avoid death caused by desiccation and resume cell division upon rehydration. The results show that to avoid death from desiccation, Pv11 cells switch ON their desiccation tolerance system. They achieve this by using the transcription factor NF-YC and its downstream gene regulation, which removes noise and controls the system's ON/OFF state, to induce the expression of genes that overcome various challenges during dryness. These findings suggest the potential for creating new life forms that are free from death by desiccation by genetically introducing the transcription factor modules that make up the desiccation tolerance system—specifically, those modules that are missing in organisms that do not possess desiccation tolerance.
Prior to its publication in the academic journal *PLOS ONE*, an early online version of this research was released on the journal's website on March 19 (U.S. Eastern Time).
For the full press release, please see below.