Ethylene Signal Transduction: Proteomics and Molecular Mechanisms

智力上的优点。 乙烯是一种气体植物激素，对植物生长和发育的许多方面具有深远的影响，包括对广泛的生物和非生物胁迫的适应性反应。 目前乙烯信号转导途径的框架始于乙烯感知并导致基因表达的变化。 关于乙烯信号传导途径的大部分知识都是基于参考植物拟南芥的遗传解剖。 虽然在识别信号通路中的关键参与者方面取得了很大进展，但这些蛋白质信号的分子机制在很大程度上仍然未知。 一个局限性是，遗传筛选不能直接检测蛋白质水平，活性，定位或功能，形成信号转导的基础上，诱导的变化。 此外，许多组分可能不适于遗传解剖。 该项目有两个目标。 第一是利用蛋白质组学方法鉴定以前未知的乙烯信号传导组分及其分子机制，以达到对乙烯信号传导的新水平的理解。 这些方法将识别响应乙烯而快速修饰的蛋白质，以及在该途径中物理相互作用的蛋白质。 蛋白质修饰和蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用是细胞内信号转导的重要机制，但在乙烯信号转导中相对未被探索。 第二个目标是对目前掌握的突变体和基因进行分析，特别关注一种名为RTE 1的基因，该基因调节ETR 1乙烯受体的信号传导。 RTE 1是一种新的膜蛋白，在植物、动物和一些原生生物中具有保守性。 RTE 1的细胞作用以及RTE 1如何特异性调节ETR 1信号传导将通过分子遗传学，细胞生物学和生物化学方法的组合进行研究。 广泛的分子遗传工具，存在乙烯信号，加上强大的蛋白质组学方法的可用性，提供了一个特殊的机会，以提高我们的知识乙烯信号转导。 更广泛的影响。 该项目为本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员提供研究培训和指导，他们通常来自代表性不足的群体。 实验室成员将在当地和国际的各种科学会议上介绍他们的研究，并将参加教学推广。 博士后研究员将遵循职业发展计划，并通过实验室研究培训，学生辅导经验和专业发展研讨会和讲习班提供支持。 鉴于乙烯在植物生长和发育中的重要性，拟议研究提供的机制见解可能会对提高人类营养和植物生物量优化的农产品产生影响。

Intellectual merit. Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone that has profound effects on numerous aspects of plant growth and development, including adaptive responses to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. The current framework of the ethylene signal transduction pathway starts with ethylene perception and leads to changes in gene expression. Much of what is known about the ethylene signaling pathway is based on genetic dissection in the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana. While great progress has been made in identifying key players in the signaling pathway, the molecular mechanisms by which these proteins signal remain largely unknown. A limitation is that genetic screens cannot directly detect hormone-induced changes in protein level, activity, localization or function, which form the basis of signal transduction. In addition, a number of components may be recalcitrant to genetic dissection. This project has two objectives. The first is to attain new levels of understanding of ethylene signal transduction using proteomic methods to identify previously unknown ethylene signaling components and their molecular mechanisms. These methods will identify proteins that are rapidly modified in response to ethylene, as well as proteins that physically interact in the pathway. Protein modification and protein-protein interactions are essential to the mechanisms of intracellular signal transduction, but have been relatively unexplored in ethylene signaling. The second objective is to carry out analyses of mutants and genes that are currently in hand, with a particular focus on a gene called RTE1, which regulates signaling by the ETR1 ethylene receptor. RTE1 is a novel membrane protein conserved in plants, animals and some protists. The cellular role of RTE1 and how RTE1 specifically regulates ETR1 signaling will be investigated through a combination of molecular genetics, cell biology and biochemistry approaches. The extensive molecular genetic tools that exist for ethylene signaling, coupled with the availability of powerful proteomic methods, provide an exceptional opportunity to advance our knowledge of ethylene signal transduction. Broader impacts. This project provides research training and mentoring of undergraduates, graduate students, and a postdoctoral researcher, who are typically from underrepresented groups. Laboratory members will present their research at a variety of scientific meetings, both local and international, and will participate in teaching outreach. The postdoctoral researcher will follow a career development plan supported by research training in the laboratory, student mentoring experiences and professional development seminars and workshops. Given the fundamental importance of ethylene in plant growth and development, the mechanistic insights provided by the proposed studies could have an impact on enhancing agricultural products for human nutrition and plant biomass optimization.