Understanding plant nuclear structure - the spatial and dynamic organisation of the plant nucleus and the function and interactions of its components (e.g. RNA, proteins, nuclear envelope) – is vital in determining an integrated structural, physical and functional map of the genome. Along with the plant’s genomic architecture - the organization of repetitive and single-copy DNA sequences along the chromosomes, and the nature, evolution, expression, recombination and segregation of the DNA sequences within the nucleus at various stages of cell division – it has important consequences for plant genetics.
Models of large scale genome organization are valuable in determining the function of different components of the genome. This fundamental work has applications in biodiversity, phylogenetic and evolution studies, and for plant breeding/crop improvement – e.g. understanding of the origin, diversity and evolution of agricultural species and improvement of these species using novel genetic resources. For example, breeding of drought-tolerant strains of food crops such as wheat, rye and barley using GM or transgenic genes.
This volume is based on significant progress made in the last five years in the knowledge and understanding of the organisation of the higher plant nucleus, and in particular in the relationship between nuclear organisation and the regulation of gene expression in a variety of contexts. The volume therefore begins with a consideration of the fundamentals underlying structural entities of the nucleus; the nuclear envelope and its associations; recent progress on the nucleoskeleton and plant lamina and the nuclear pore complexes. The role of the envelope in cell signalling is presented.
The second section of the volume then deals with nuclear structure and the nucleolus, and considers the role, structure and function of the nucleolus; chromatin packaging and the structure and organisation of the nucleus in meiosis including telomeres and anchorage of meiotic chromosomes.
In the third section, Nuclear structure, chromatin position and gene expression, topics include heterochromatin remodelling and nuclear architecture and its influence on gene expression; transposons; genomics and chromatin organization and chromosome structure, expression and interphase organization.
Finally, applications of the topic are considered including nuclear import and export of plant virus proteins and genomes and structural effects in transformation and DNA insertion.
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