CAREER: Genetic Dissection of The Signaling Pathway of A Family of Cell Wall-Associated Protein Receptor Kinases

这个职业发展项目的总体科学目标是从基因上剖析拟南芥中细胞壁相关蛋白激酶(WAKS)家族的信号通路。胞外细胞壁在植物的发育和生存中起着至关重要的作用。然而，尽管它很重要，但人们并不清楚该壁是如何与细胞内的隔室相互作用的。初步研究确定了一个五口之家。所有成员都有一个与细胞壁紧密相连的胞外区，一个单一的跨膜区，以及一个细胞质丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶。WAKs是植物正常发育所必需的，在病原菌的反应中起着重要的作用。最近的结果表明，转基因抑制WAKS会导致细胞伸长受到抑制，发育完全停止，细胞死亡。在这些研究中，基因外抑制物筛选将被用来识别和表征WAKS介导的信号通路中的成分。具体的科学目标是(1)建立可诱导的转基因品系，用于抑制子筛选；(2)鉴定和鉴定基因外抑制子突变体；(3)分析抑制子与特定WAKs之间的相互作用。这个项目的总体教育目标是将这项研究与一个教学计划相结合，该计划将教育学生植物分子遗传学。这一目标的一部分将是在旧金山州立大学培养本科生和研究生对科学发现的兴奋，并为他们提供在科学领域追求成功职业生涯的工具。具体的教育目标是(1)将现代分子遗传学技术融入植物生理学实验课程，(2)开发一门植物分子生物学新课程，(3)招收和指导植物分子生物学和遗传学领域的少数民族学生。这最后一个目标将包括参与针对少数群体的机构和社区外联方案，以及指导从事独立研究的少数群体学生。这些目标得到了生物系教职员工和大学行政部门的坚定支持。两人都坚信，积极的研究项目为学生提供了获得科学运作方式的第一手经验的机会，并赋予他们在传统课堂环境中无法获得的技能。此外，该大学致力于为湾区不同种族的人口提供教育。

The overall scientific objective of this CAREER development project is to dissect genetically the signaling pathway of a family of cell wall-associated protein kinases (WAKs) in the plant, Arabidopsis. The extracellular cell wall serves a vital role in plant development and survival. Despite its importance, however, it is not well understood how the wall interacts with the intracellular compartment. Preliminary studies have identified a family of five WAKs. All members have an extracellular domain tightly linked to the cell wall, a single transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase. WAKs are required for normal plant development and play an important role during pathogen responses. More recent results have shown that transgenic suppression of WAKs results in the inhibition of cell elongation, a complete arrest in development, and cell death. In these studies extragenic suppressor screening will be used to identify and characterize components in the signaling pathway mediated by WAKs. The specific scientific aims are (1) to create an inducible transgenic line that will be used for suppressor screening, (2) to identify and characterize extragenic suppressor mutants, and (3) to analyze the interactions between suppressors and specific WAKs. The overall educational goal for this project is to integrate this research with a teaching program that will educate students in plant molecular genetics. Part of this goal will be to foster the excitement of scientific discovery in undergraduate and graduate students at San Francisco State University, and to provide them with tools to pursue a successful career in science. Specific educational aims are (1) to incorporate modern molecular genetic techniques into a plant physiology laboratory course, (2) to develop a new course in plant molecular biology, (3) to recruit and mentor minority students in the fields of plant molecular biology and genetics. This last aim will include participation in institutional and community outreach programs for minorities, and the mentoring of minority students undertaking independent research. These objectives are firmly supported by both the faculty in the department of biology and the university administration. Both believe strongly that an active research program provides students with opportunities to gain first hand experience in how science operates and gives them skills not attainable in a traditional classroom setting. In addition, the university at large is committed to the education of the ethnically diverse Bay Area population.