Research Projects

Transfer RNA-derived fragments (tRFs) are small non-coding RNAs that repress gene expression at both transcription and translation levels. They are found in different types of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants, but their exact mechanism of generation and function remains unclear. Unlike miRNAs, tRFs may follow Dicer-independent gene regulation and may or may not bind with AGO proteins. This project aims to explore differentially expressed tRFs and their targets in Arabidopsis and crop plant rice under drought and salinity conditions. The project will focus on tRF-5 and tRF-3, targeting segregate tRFs binding to Argonaute proteins (AGO1/AGO2). The differentially expressed tRFs will be screened and their target transcripts will be computationally identified using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets. The expression of mRNAs involved in tRF-mRNA pairs will be checked using the same RNA-seq datasets. The data analysis will establish that tRFs are bonafide regulatory molecules, similar to microRNAs, involved in regulating gene expression through targeting transcripts by complementary binding in association with Argonaute proteins under stress conditions. The project will result in experimentally validated, AGO-associated, stress-responsive tRFs that regulate gene expressions at the mRNA level. Their targets will be experimentally validated to explore the complete pathway of tRFs-mediated regulation.