2010 Projects: Molecular Genetics of Arabidposis

Elliot M.Meyerowitz建议编号0846192拟南芥的分子遗传学开花植物是从称为顶端分生组织的干细胞集合中生长出来的。当种子萌发时，有两个分生组织--根的顶端分生组织和茎的顶端分生组织，顶端分生组织最终形成植物的整个地上部分。梅耶罗维茨实验室开发了一套新的活体成像方法，用于研究新梢顶端分生组织的细胞分裂和基因表达。这里提出的是一系列研究，使用这些方法和植物遗传学，以了解植物干细胞的两个方面。首先是任何植物组织产生新的茎顶端分生组织的能力。这一过程将被详细地遵循，从而导致对植物组织中模式生长是如何起源的理解。第二组研究将跟踪植物激素细胞分裂素在生长的新梢顶端分生组织中的作用和感知，从而更好地了解这种植物激素在植物生长中所起的作用。这项工作的更广泛的影响包括对植物发育生物学的研究生和博士后学者的教育。此外，这些研究的结果和图像将被用于教师培训项目，包括全国公认的“植物学基础”项目，该项目由教师为高中课堂开发利用植物的实验室练习；以及一个项目，加州理工大学的研究生和博士后学者将在旧金山的探索学院度过长达六周的时间，在暑期教师培训项目中教授高中和小学科学教师。最后，应当指出，拟议研究的结果将产生控制植物生长的实际能力，这反过来将对农业作出贡献，对粮食和燃料的供应产生影响，这是人类面临的两个重大问题。

Elliot M. MeyerowitzProposal Number 0846192Molecular Genetics of Arabidopsis thalianaFlowering plants grow from collections of stem cells called apical meristems. When a seed germinates, there are two meristems-the root apical meristem from which the root grows, and the shoot apical meristem, which eventually gives rise to the entire above-ground part of the plant. The Meyerowitz laboratory has developed a set of new live-imaging methods for studying cell divisions and gene expression in shoot apical meristems. What is proposed here is a series of studies, using these methods and plant genetics, to understand two aspects of plant stem cells. The first is the ability of any plant tissue to give rise to a new shoot apical meristem. This process will be followed in detail, leading to an understanding of how patterned growth originates in plant tissues. The second set of studies will follow the effects and perception of the plant hormone cytokinin in growing shoot apical meristems, leading to better understanding of the role that this plant hormone plays in plant growth.The broader impacts of this work include the education of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in plant developmental biology. In addition, results and images from these studies will be used in teacher training programs, including the nationally recognized "Grounding in Botany" program, in which laboratory exercises using plants are developed by teachers for high school classrooms; and a program in which graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from Caltech spend up to six weeks at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, teaching high school and elementary science teachers in a summer teacher training program. Finally, it should be noted that the results of the proposed studies will lead to practical abilities to control plant growth, which in turn will be a contribution to agriculture with impact on supplies of food and fuel, two of the great problems facing humanity