SBIR Phase I: Expression Pattern Screening for Agriculture Genomics

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目建议开发一种高通量的多重mRNA分析方法，用于筛选大量化合物，以发现影响植物组织基因表达模式的潜在化合物。一组感兴趣的基因和对照基因的表达可以在96孔板的每一孔内同时进行测试。研究人员可以评估96种不同的化合物如何影响每个平板中这些基因的表达模式。这项技术将解决农业行业尚未得到满足的需求--有效利用新的基因组学信息。这将允许测试更多的基因靶点，包括新识别的基因，并将提供关于选择性和特异性的信息。适当的方法允许将DNA阵列技术用于高通量多重mRNA分析。初步结果表明，这些方法使用哺乳动物细胞是可行的。DNA阵列可以在每个孔内应用，并保持杂交特异性。该方法足够灵敏，可以从96孔板中的一个孔内生长的细胞中检测到每个细胞一个mRNA分子表达的基因。研究人员建议将这种方法应用于培养的植物细胞，以形成一种可靠和灵敏的筛选技术，以发现调节作物基因表达的新化合物。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop a high throughput multiple mRNA assay for screening large numbers of compounds to discover potential compounds that affect patterns of gene expression in plant tissue. The expression for a group of genes of interest and control genes can be tested all at once within each well of a 96-well plate. Investigators can evaluate how 96 different compounds affect the expression pattern for these genes in each plate. This technology will address an unmet need of the agricultural industry - to make efficient use of novel genomics information. This will allow testing of more gene targets including newly identified genes, and will provide information about selectivity and specificity.Proprietary methods allow DNA array technology to be used for the high throughput multiple mRNA assay. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of these methods using mammalian cells. DNA arrays can be applied within each well and retain hybridization specificity. The method is sensitive enough to detect genes expressed at one mRNA molecule per cell from cells grown within one well of a 96-well plate. The researchers propose to apply the approach to cultured plant cells, in order to form a reliable and sensitive screening technology for discovering new compounds that modulate gene expression in crops.