Wound Modulation of Gene Expression in Plants

本研究的主要目的是表征衰老豌豆上胚轴在受伤前后的mRNA群体，作为了解植物对这种普遍胁迫反应的分子基础的先决条件。待验证的假设表明，损伤导致质膜破裂，从而允许钙的短暂流入。钙离子直接或间接地激活一些基因，包括参与乙烯生物合成的基因。乙烯开启了不同的基因，可能包括编码多糖酶的基因，这种酶能从细胞壁上切割低聚糖（激发子），从而激活了另一组基因。伤害是植物所遭受的最普遍的胁迫之一，它是由物理因素（如风和冰雹）和生物因素（如大型食草动物、昆虫和真菌）引起的。由于病原体的伤害是如此普遍的现象，了解植物对这种胁迫的反应将提供所有有害病原体共同的基线信息，从而可以更清楚地确定致病性的特定反应。在常规研究中，尤其是在试图促进外源性化合物的吸收时，也会无意中造成损伤。这里发现的结果可能会决定这些协议有多大的误导性。

The primary objective of this research is to characterize the mRNA population of aged pea epicotyls before and after wounding, as a prerequisite to understanding the molecular basis by which plants respond to this pervasive stress. The hypothesis to be tested suggests that wounding causes disruption of the plasma membrane, thereby permitting a transient influx of calcium. Either directly or indirectly calcium than activates some genes, including genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis. Ethylene turns on different genes, including perhaps genes encoding polysaccaridases which cleave oligosaccharins (elicitors) from cell walls, thereby activating yet another set of genes. Wounding constitutes one of the most pervasive of the stresses to which plants are subjected and is caused by physical factors such as wind and hail, and by biological agents such as large herbivores, insects and fungi. Since wounding by pathogens is such a widespread phenomenon, an understanding of plants' responses to this stress would provide the baseline information common to all injurious pathogens, such that the responses specific to pathogenicity could be more clearly identified. Wounding is also performed, albeit unwittingly, in conventional research, especially in attempts to facilitate uptake of exogenous compounds. Results found here might determine how misleading such protocols are.