POWRE: Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling High Temperature Adaptation in Plants

这项由POWRE奖支持的研究将使用数量性状基因座（QTL）分析来了解模式植物拟南芥对高温的适应。 长期目标是：（1）鉴定与植物在生殖和生命周期的其他阶段对高温的适应有关的基因;（2）检验热激蛋白（Hsp）结构或表达的变异有助于植物耐热性遗传变异的假说。 虽然基因组测序的巨大进展已经提供了许多生物体（包括拟南芥）的完整遗传蓝图，但只有5%的测序拟南芥基因具有确定的表型功能。 因此，定义基因功能，特别是当它涉及植物表型时，仍然是一个重大挑战。 拟南芥中的遗传变异为鉴定基因功能提供了一个未充分利用的资源，现在可以通过QTL分析来获得。 QTL分析允许对复杂性状进行遗传解剖，不仅是鉴定基因功能的重要新方法，而且也是检验长期存在的生态和遗传假设的重要新方法。 拟定研究将由P.I.启动。在荷兰瓦赫宁根的Maarten Koornneef博士的实验室进行休假研究，在那里她将学习如何使用拟南芥进行QTL分析。 QTL分析在植物耐高温性研究中的应用，将成为植物耐高温研究的一个重要的新的科学方向。这将大大加强她的研究计划，符合POWRE计划的指导方针。 休假的第二个目标是扩大和巩固与英国其他团体的国际合作。和荷兰。 特别是，P.I.将学习目前计算机模拟蛋白质三维结构的方法，然后使用这些方法来模拟植物小热休克蛋白家族的不同成员的结构。 这项工作将与伦敦伯克贝克学院的克莉丝汀斯林斯比博士合作进行。 POWRE的支持对于实现这一独特的职业机会以加强培训和国际合作至关重要。

Research supported by this POWRE award will use Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) analysis to understand plant adaptation to high temperature in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The long-term goals are: (1) to identify genes involved in plant adaptation to high temperature during reproduction and other phases of the life cycle, and (2) to test the hypothesis that variation in heat-shock protein (Hsp) structure or expression contributes to genetic variability in plant heat tolerance. Although dramatic progress in genome sequencing has provided the complete genetic blueprint of many organisms, including Arabidopsis, only 5% of sequenced Arabidopsis genes have an established phenotypic function. Thus, defining gene function, particularly as it relates to plant phenotype, remains a major challenge. Genetic variation in Arabidopsis offers an underexploited resource for identifying gene function, which can now be accessed by QTL analysis. QTL analysis allows the genetic dissection of complex traits and is an important new approach not only to identifying gene function, but also for testing long-standing ecological and genetic hypotheses. The proposed studies will be initiated by the P.I. as sabbatical research in the laboratory of Dr. Maarten Koornneef in Wageningen, the Netherlands, where she will learn how to use Arabidopsis for QTL analysis. Application of QTL analysis to the problem of high-temperature tolerance in plants will represent a major new scientific direction for the P.I. that will greatly enhance her research program, in line with the guidelines of the POWRE program. A secondary goal of the sabbatical leave will be to expand and solidify international collaborations with other groups in the U.K. and the Netherlands. In particular, the P.I. will learn current computer methods for modeling the three-dimensional structure of proteins and then use these methods to model the structure of diverse members of the plant small-Hsp protein family. This work will be performed in collaboration with Dr. Christine Slingsby, Birkbeck College, London. POWRE support is essential to realize this unique career opportunity for enhanced training and international collaboration.