Genetic Dissection of Calcium Oscillation-Controlled Cellular Responses

细胞内钙在动植物细胞中调节多种细胞过程，包括肌肉收缩、受精、细胞分裂、神经过程、新陈代谢、细胞运动和基因表达。因此，适当地控制细胞内的钙离子是至关重要的。细胞内钙离子的协调调节通常以重复的钙瞬变或振荡的形式发生。在气孔保卫细胞中，胞内钙离子振荡调节气孔孔的大小。这种气孔对植物的生长和生存起着至关重要的作用，因为植物通过它们获得光合作用所需的二氧化碳。此外，植物通过气孔损失了95%以上的水分。在这个项目中，我们将利用水芹的保卫细胞，研究细胞内钙离子振荡是如何特异地控制基因表达来调节气孔大小的。这项研究的发现将为细胞内钙离子的作用提供新的见解，除了它在基础植物生物学中的重要性外，还可能有助于理解由于细胞内钙离子调节失调而导致的疾病的发病机制，并有助于提高植物的抗旱性。该项目将为一名博士后研究员和一名研究生提供研究培训。它还将给两个或更多的本科生提供体验科学研究的机会。

Cytosolic calcium mediates diverse cellular processes in both animal and plant cells, including muscle contraction, fertilization, cell division, neural processes, metabolism, cell movement, and gene expression. Therefore, proper control of cytosolic Ca2+ is of prime importance. The orchestrated regulation of cytosolic Ca2+ often occurs as repetitive Ca2+ transients or oscillations. In stomatal guard cells, cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations regulate the size of stomatal pores. Such pores play an essential role for plant growth and survival because plants obtain CO2 for photosynthesis through them. Moreover, plants lose more than 95% of water through stomatal pores. In this project, using guard cells of thale cress, we will investigate how cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations specifically control gene expression to regulate stomatal pore size. Discoveries that come from the research will provide new insights into the role of cytosolic Ca2+, which, in addition to its importance in fundamental plant biology, could contribute to the research efforts of understanding the pathogenesis of diseases due to dysregulation of cytosolic Ca2+, and contribute to development of plants with enhanced drought tolerance. The project will provide research training for one postdoctoral fellow and a graduate student. It will also give two or more undergraduate students the opportunity to experience scientific research.