In this study, Characterized the function of a SWI/SNF sub -unit in plantsCalled BDH, that shares sequence homology with the SWI/SNF BCL7 sub -unit in animals. The plants that miss BDH show multiple development defects, including longer hypoconotiles.
The complex SWI/SNF is a chromatin -built chromatin and formed by several sub -units involved in the control of chromatin accessibility.
Proteins in plants
A team of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plant (IBMCP), a mixed center of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) has developed a study that determines the key role of the key role Bd protein in the right growth of plants, because of their effect on a process that Organize genetic material in cells. In addition, the team used artificial intelligence to check whether the structure of This protein has been stored during evolution.
The research, published in the prestigious scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), points out that The function of these proteins would be similar to other speciesPlaying an important role in the regulation of the cell function whose errors are associated with diseases such as cancer.
All living beings on earth have a common origin. This makes Certain structures are repeated in many organisms, from plants to animals. This happens with the way living things organize their genetic material: how DNA is organized in the cell. This function is performed by chromatin, a mixture of DNA and proteins that make genetic material possible and access to the information it contains. The structure can change to activate or deactivate genes according to the needs of the cell.
Artificial Intelligence: Study Revolution
Chromatin works through specialized proteins that are called “chromatin remodeling complexes” use that energy to slide, change or remove other proteinsfacilitating or blocking access to DNA. In this area, the study by the Javier Gallego Bartolomé team, a scientist at IBMCP, analyzed the molecular function of the protein called BDH (of the English BCL domain homologous) within one of these Chromatin remodies, the complex called SWI/SNF (from the English switch/Sucrose non-fermentable), in the development of the floors.
“This mechanism is retained during evolution and plays a key role in the regulation of genes. Changes in these complexes are associated with diseases such as mammal cancer or developmental problems in plants, ”Galician reveals. For example, his team noted that a malfunction of this system causes several defects in the development of plants. According to their experiments, these defects were due to SWI/SNF complex instability caused by the absence of BDH -protein.
In earlier works, the IBMCP team had demonstrated similarities between the BDH protein of plants with other animal proteins, such as BCL7 protein in mammals. Now they have also been able to establish a connection with a yeast protein called RTT102, where they check in mutant plants both of them They fulfill a similar function for the correct functioning of chromatin. For this, the use of artificial intelligence was decisive: “What enabled us to discover the evolutionary preservation of the BDH function was the use of Alpafold, an aid for the prediction of protein structures based on artificial intelligence developed by Google DeepMind, “He clarifies the CSIC researcher.
Applied biotechnologies
Alpafold is a revolution in the study of protein structures and Are interaction with other molecules such as DNA or RNABecause it makes it possible to predict the structure of a protein in minutes, which considerably facilitates the experimental design. These predictions require experimental validation, which has been performed after traditional techniques (gene expression, phenotypical analysis and mass spectrometry, among other things).
According to the research team, these findings can be relevant in the medium term. “In mammals, the dysfunctions of the SWI/SNF complex are associated with cancer, while this complex in plants is the key to development. In this contextThe discoveries of this study can serve as a basis To develop biotechnological applications that are aimed at tackling these problems, “concludes Gallego.