Project data
Funding Entity: Italian Ministry of University and Research
Call: PRIN 2020
Coordinator: Università degli Studi di BOLOGNA
UNISI Principal Investigator: Francesco Nardi
Department: Life sciences
Start date: 15 May 2022 – End date: 15 May 2025
Project description
The project stems from the recent discovery, in the laboratory of Prof. Passamonti at the University of Bologna, of a new class of small non-coding RNAs – nicknamed smithRNAs – that are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and can apparently regulate the expression of nuclear genes. The functionality of at least two smithRNAs has been proved in vivo in the manila clam, and more experiments are planned along this line. The overall objective of this project is to characterize smithRNAs and their roles in eukaryotes in more detail.The research unit at the University of Siena will try to elucidate whether smithRNAs are restricted to the manila clam – or bivalve molluscs – or rather a yet overlooked mechanism that is common to all Metazoa. More specifically, multiple animal species, belonging to different groups, will be studied to assess the presence, taxonomic distribution and evolutionary conservation of smithRNAs. The research, building on the original work on the manila clam, will be mostly based on sequencing and bioinformatic analyses.Overall, this project will contribute to our knowledge on several aspects of mitochondrial biology and evolution, thus promoting a better understanding of mitochondrial function, interactions, gene regulation and evolution, with a focus on endosymbiosis and the early stages of eukaryogenesis.
This project has received funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research PRIN programme