U.S.-Japan Cooperative Research (Photoconversion/Photo- synthesis): Development of Photosynthesis in Tobacco Leaves:Influence of Cell Ancestry and Positional Information

该奖项将支持美国威斯康星大学植物系Judith Croxdale教授和日本筑波国立环境研究所环境植物科学部Kenji Omasa教授共同开展的美日合作光转化/光合作用研究项目。该项目包括合作实验，以检查在发育中的双叶叶肉中，在多个位置出现的新细胞是否由它们在发育中的叶片中的位置或它们的细胞谱系协调。这个问题是植物发育生物学的一个重要基础问题。通过监测光合作用，研究无性系在叶片发育中的作用。光化学装置的发展将通过在克隆中反复成像叶绿素a荧光动力学来确定。克隆在整个发育过程中的统一功能将表明细胞祖先的调控，而克隆内的异质性将表明其他影响参与细胞功能的发育。由维管组织相交的克隆在评估其他细胞类型对叶肉分化的贡献方面将特别有用。由于克隆将跨越整个叶片发育时期，研究人员可以确定在发育过程中是否存在祖先可能控制功能的“窗口”，以及位置信息可能调节细胞发育的其他时间。

This award will support a U.S.-Japan Cooperative Photoconversion/Photosynthesis Research Program project between Professor Judith Croxdale, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, and Professor Kenji Omasa, Environmental Plant Science Section, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan. The project involves cooperative experiments to examine whether, in the mesophyll of developing dicot leaves, new cells that arise at multiple sites are coordinated by their position in the developing leaf or by their cell lineage. The question is one of fundamental importance to plant developmental biology. The function of clones in developing leaves will be studied by monitoring photosynthesis. The development of the photochemical apparatus will be determined by repeatedly imaging the kinetics of chlorophyll a fluorescence in the clones. Uniform function within clones throughout their development will indicate regulation by cell ancestry, while heterogeneity within clones will indicate the participation of other influences in the development of cellular function. Clones intersected by vascular tissue will be particularly useful in assessing the contributions of other cell types on mesophyll differentiation. Since the clones created will span the entire period of leaf development, the investigators can determine if there are "windows" during development when ancestry may control function, and other times when positional information may regulate cellular development.