Japan STA Program: Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of the Signal Transduction Pathway Leading to Ethylene Dependent Transcription

藤本9703835 该奖项支持了24个月的日本科学技术厅（STA）博士后奖学金博士苏珊Y。 Fujimoto在日本筑波国立生物科学与人类技术研究所。 藤本博士将与植物分子生物学实验室的高级研究员Masaru Takagi博士合作开展一项名为"剖析导致乙烯依赖性转录的信号转导途径的分子机制"的研究项目。" 拟议研究的目标是确定从植物激素乙烯的感知到生理反应的途径的分子组成部分。 这种气体是如何作为植物的重要生长调节剂的，目前还没有很好的了解。 阐明这一途径不仅将为基础科学提供基本的见解，而且还将对植物生物技术产生重大影响。 使用模式植物拟南芥，参与启动对乙烯响应的基因的转录所必需的信号的传递的因子将被研究。 已经从拟南芥中分离出乙烯反应基因，并且已经表征了一组与这些基因相互作用的称为AERB（拟南芥乙烯反应结合蛋白）的蛋白。 在拟议的研究中，AERB基因的表达将进行分析，并与拟南芥突变体中的表达在其响应乙烯的影响。 此外，蛋白质修饰的可能性和识别与AERBs在乙烯反应的因素将被检查。 通过使用乙烯响应基因与已知的乙烯响应突变体，可以解剖和可能的顺序的基因，包括这个重要的和复杂的途径。 ***

Fujimoto 9703835 This award supports a 24 month Science and Technology Agency of Japan (STA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Susan Y. Fujimoto at the National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Fujimoto will work with Dr. Masaru Takagi, Senior Researcher in the Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, on a research project entitled, "Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of the Signal Transduction Pathway Leading to Ethylene Dependent Transcription." The goal of the proposed research is to identify molecular components of the pathway leading from the perception of the plant hormone ethylene to a physiological response. How this gas acts as an important growth regulator in plants is not yet well understood. Elucidation of this pathway would not only offer fundamental insights for basic science but would also provide a significant impact to plant biotechnology. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, factors that are involved in the transmission of signals necessary to initiate transcription of genes responsive to ethylene will be investigated. Ethylene responsive genes have already been isolated from Arabidopsis and a group of proteins termed AERBs (Arabidopsis Ethylene-Responsive Binding proteins) that interact with these genes have been characterized. In the proposed research, AERB gene expression will be analyzed and compared with expressions in Arabidopsis mutants affected in their response to ethylene. In addition, the possibility of protein modification and identification of factors interacting with the AERBs in response to ethylene will be examined. By using ethylene responsive genes in conjunction with known ethylene response mutants, one can dissect and possibly order the genes comprising this important and complex pathway. ***