Systems Approaches to Understanding Circadian Transcriptional Networks

Air date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 3:00:00 PM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Category: Wednesday Afternoon Lectures
Description: Our laboratory is undertaking systems level approaches to understanding circadian clock function in plants. The long-term goal is to understand the circuitry required to generate robust, physiologically relevant rhythms, as well as using a comparative approach to understand the evolution of circadian clocks and the underlying design principles. We combine forward genetics with cell-based assays and whole-genome transcriptome approaches in an attempt to understand the network of circuits that are required for the core clock, and how the clock exerts its outputs upon the cell. These outputs include the rhythmic control of a substantial proportion of the transcriptome, and thus understanding the hierarchy of factors that must be required to achieve phase-specific expression of large numbers of genes is also of interest to us. We are beginning to discover that circadian clocks of plants are composed not of a single autoregulatory loop or limit cycle, but rather of multiple positive and negative interlocking feedback loops. We propose that this complex network architecture provides robustness (i.e. resistance to stochastic perturbation), multiple opportunities for output control and several pathways for controlling inputs or environmental entrainment of the oscillator(s).

The NIH Director's Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series includes weekly scientific talks by some of the top researchers in the biomedical sciences worldwide.

Runtime: 00:57:37
NLM Title: Systems approaches to understanding circadian transcriptional networks [electronic resource] / Steve A. Kay.
Series: NIH director's Wednesday afternoon lecture series
Author: Kay, Steve A.
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Publisher: [Bethesda, Md. : National Institutes of Health, 2009]
Other Title(s): NIH director's Wednesday afternoon lecture series
Abstract: (CIT): Our laboratory is undertaking systems level approaches to understanding circadian clock function in plants. The long-term goal is to understand the circuitry required to generate robust, physiologically relevant rhythms, as well as using a comparative approach to understand the evolution of circadian clocks and the underlying design principles. We combine forward genetics with cell-based assays and whole-genome transcriptome approaches in an attempt to understand the network of circuits that are required for the core clock, and how the clock exerts its outputs upon the cell. These outputs include the rhythmic control of a substantial proportion of the transcriptome, and thus understanding the hierarchy of factors that must be required to achieve phase-specific expression of large numbers of genes is also of interest to us. We are beginning to discover that circadian clocks of plants are composed not of a single autoregulatory loop or limit cycle, but rather of multiple positive and negative interlocking feedback loops. We propose that this complex network architecture provides robustness (i.e. resistance to stochastic perturbation), multiple opportunities for output control and several pathways for controlling inputs or environmental entrainment of the oscillator(s).
Subjects: Circadian Rhythm
Gene Expression Profiling
Publication Types: Government Publications
Lectures
Webcasts
Permanent link: http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?14920

Category:

Science & Technology

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