Molecular genetic basis of plant sensations to the diurnal environment

植物的生长和发育需要对昼夜环境进行强有力的检测。这是通过光探测与生物钟的耦合机制发生的。我们最近描述了构成振荡器核心的基因位点。由此，我们建议进一步定义振荡器网络中额外的昼夜节律位点的位置，并开始定义这些基因产物的生物化学作用模式。为此，我们将验证ELF3 / ELF4复合物与光感受器和转录因子相互作用以介导时钟基因激活的假设；这是黄昏时的钟臂。与此同时，我们将测试AKIN10对TIC的磷酸化是否指导了核锁蛋白的蛋白质稳定性；这是大钟的黎明轴。通过对最近在早晨和黎明阶段进行的微阵列分析，以及通过开发一种革命性的成像技术来描述蛋白质在活细胞内的相互作用，这些努力在系统层面上进行了整合。这一建议的共同努力应该从根本上提高我们对植物生物钟在自然昼夜条件下运作的机制理解。

Plant growth and development requires robust detection of the diurnal environment. This occurs through a coupling mechanism of light detection to the circadian clock. We recently described the genetic loci that make the core of the oscillator. From this, we propose to further define the placement of additional circadian loci within the oscillator network, and to start to define the biochemical modes of action of these gene products. For this, we will test the hypothesis that a complex of ELF3 / ELF4 interacts with a photoreceptor and a transcription factor to mediate activation of clock genes; this is the dusk arm of the clock. In parallel, we will test if phosphorylation of TIC by AKIN10 directs protein stability of a coreclock protein; this is the dawn arm of the clock. These efforts integrate at a systems level through analyses of recently performed microarrays at the morning and dawn phases, and through the development of a revolutionary imaging technique that will describe when proteins interact within a living cell. The combined efforts of this proposal should radically elevate our mechanistic understanding of the plant circadian clock as it operates under natural diurnal conditions.