Japan STA Fellowship: Chitin Perception in the Model Legume Lotus japonicus: A Molecular and Biochemical Comparison to a Chitin Binding Protein in Rice

[907799]罗伯特·布拉德利·戴博士提出的这项研究将研究植物中几丁质感知的几个问题。显然，几丁质作为一种化学信号分子和许多植物和动物反应的激发子，近年来已经开始成为研究外部刺激后基因激活和表达的候选分子。戴博士要验证的主要假设是，水稻对真菌发病机制的几丁质感知（一种有害的关系）与根瘤菌-豆科植物共生（一种有益的关系）中的几丁质感知共享一个共同的识别事件。在技术层面上，在模式豆科植物荷花中鉴定出一种与水稻同源的几丁质结合蛋白，将有助于更好地理解几丁质的感知，以及它在细胞相互作用中的作用。该奖项支持在日本筑波农林水产省国立农业生物资源研究所为Robert Bradley Day博士提供为期两年的日本科学技术机构（STA）博士后奖学金。戴博士将与生物技术部主任Naoto Shibuya博士合作，开展一个名为“模型豆科植物荷花中的几丁质感知：与水稻中几丁质结合蛋白的分子和生化比较”的项目。该项目中的实验将有助于理解几丁质感知的作用，并更好地理解信号交换的机制和结构-功能特异性，这似乎决定了这种复杂的相互作用。这项基础研究工作的发现对农业有明显的长期实际应用。拟议的工作将通过与日本主办实验室的合作而受益，戴博士将获得必要的实验系统、设备和专业知识

9907799DayThe proposed research by Dr. Robert Bradley Day will examine several questions regarding chitin perception in plants. Clearly, chitin as a chemical signal molecule and elicitor of a number of responses in both plants and animals has begun to emerge in recent years as a candidate molecule for studying gene activation and expression following delivery of an external stimulus. The major hypothesis to be tested by Dr. Day is that chitin perception by rice in response to fungal pathogenesis (a harmful relationship) shares a common recognition event with chitin perception in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis (a beneficial relationship). At a technical level, the identification of a chitin-binding protein in the model legume Lotus japonicus which is homologous to that identified in rice will lead to a better understanding of chitin perception in general, and of its role in cellular interactions. This award supports a two-year Science and Technology Agency of Japan (STA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Robert Bradley Day at the National Institute of Agrobiological Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Day will work with Dr. Naoto Shibuya, Director of the Department of Biotechnology, on a project entitled, "Chitin Perception in the Model Legume Lotus japonicus: A Molecular and Biochemical Comparison to a Chitin-Binding Protein in Rice." The experiments in the proposed project will contribute to an understanding of the role of chitin perception, and to a better understanding of the mechanism of signal exchange and the structure-function specificity of this which appears to dictate this complex interaction. There are clear long-term practical applications to agriculture of the findings from this basic research work. The proposed work will benefit through collaboration with the Japanese host laboratory, where Dr. Day will have access to the necessary experimental systems, equipment and expertise.***