Investigating Mitochondrial Genome Dynamics in Plants

植物叶绿体代表了一个奇妙的多样性和动态的细胞区室，指导与能量代谢，细胞应激反应，几种生物合成功能，并最终程序化细胞死亡相关的过程。 在高等植物中，包含在线粒体区室中的遗传信息以多部分的、高度冗余的构型组织，使得各种DNA分子的相对拷贝数可以显著变化。 植物线粒体基因组内拷贝数转移的过程是该项目的主题。 实验方法旨在确定遗传的线粒体遗传信息和发育中植物的营养组织中所含的线粒体遗传信息的组织差异。 同样，研究的重点是基因组结构的性质，允许发生显着的拷贝数变化。 由于该实验室已经克隆了一个核基因，该基因指导植物线粒体中的拷贝数转移现象，CHM，因此应该可以通过表征线粒体基因组转移过程来推断该基因的作用。 这项研究可能不仅对作物改良和杂交种子生产中线粒体基因组的操作有影响，而且还对推导线粒体遗传过程有影响，这也是人类遗传学的一个非常感兴趣的领域。

The plant mitochondrion represents a wonderfully multifarious and dynamic cellular compartment that directs processes associated with energy metabolism, cell stress responses, several biosynthetic functions, and ultimately programmed cell death. In higher plants, the genetic information contained within the mitochondrial compartment is organized in a multipartite, highly redundant configuration such that relative copy number of various DNA molecules can vary dramatically. The process of copy number shifting within the plant mitochondrial genome is the subject of this project. Experimental approaches are directed at determining the differences in the organization of mitochondrial genetic information that is inherited and mitochondrial genetic information that is contained in the vegetative tissues of the developing plant. Likewise, investigations are focused on the nature of the genome structure that allows dramatic copy number changes to occur. Because this laboratory has already cloned a nuclear gene that directs the copy number shifting phenomena in plant mitochondria, CHM, it should be possible to deduce the role of this gene by characterizing mitochondrial genome shifting processes. This research is likely to have implications not only for the manipulation of the mitochondrial genome in crop improvement and hybrid seed production, but also in deducing processes involved in mitochondrial inheritance, an area of great interest in human genetics as well.