Abstract: The steady-state mRNA abundance is an outcome of transcript synthesis counter-balanced by turnover. While studies of transcription factor and Pol II activities have provided a significant insight into transcriptional gene regulation, little is known about how bulk mRNA decay contributes to transcriptome dynamics in space and time. Our study on a group of DHH1/DDX6-like RNA helicases in Arabidopsis uncovered a role for this protein family in translation and decay of stress-response mRNAs under non-stress conditions. In this seminar, I will talk about our current study on the specificity, redundancy and compensation between the DHH1/DDX6-mediated and other 5’ and 3’ decay pathways. I will also introduce our new line of research that is more translational and relevant to Agriculture in Thailand, focusing on increasing submergence tolerance in rice.

Biography: Thanin Chantarachot (he/him) grew up in the south of Thailand. He obtained his BSc in Biology at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai and MSc in Botany at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He then moved to the United States where he did his PhD at the University of California, Riverside with Prof. Julia Bailey-Serres, studying the DHH1/DDX6-like protein family in Arabidopsis. After receiving a PhD in Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics in 2018, Thanin stayed on in the same lab to finish a paper. In 2020, Thanin returned to Thailand and joined the faculty at the Department of Botany of Chulalongkorn University, where he is now serving as a lecturer and researcher.

Group website: rb.gy/sk80g7