RUI: Lateral Root Initiation

玛塔·拉斯科夫斯基（Marta laskowskios - 0950866rui）：侧根形成生长健壮植物的能力提高了经济产出，养活世界的能力，以及应对气候变化威胁的能力。植物的生长反过来又受其根系的影响。动物通常生来就有固定数量的腿，而植物的分支数量和位置并不是预先确定的。任何一株植物的结构都取决于它生长的环境。这个项目将提高对细胞内发生的过程的理解，这些过程控制着新的侧根何时何地形成。我们已经知道，在拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）这种植物中，侧根的形成是在根的弯曲部分诱导的，但这种情况发生的细节尚不清楚。该项目将使用分子遗传学工具来测试当前的模型，以了解如何诱导侧根。具体来说，侧根形成的诱导是由于细胞长度的增加，从而导致植物生长调节剂生长素运输的变化，这一观点将得到验证。该项目还将确定在根的弯曲区域形成侧根的程度，这适用于广泛的植物，包括一些作物植物和商业种植的森林树木。完成这个项目将进一步了解根是如何生长的。从该项目中获得的知识可能为未来重要经济植物的基因工程提供信息。它还将通过荣誉和独立学习职位的结合以及通过调查实验室课程，每年为大约12名本科生创造参与研究的机会。由于该项目是国际合作的一部分，这些本科生将积极参与全球研究社区，接受培训，以促进他们作为科学家的发展。

Marta LaskowskiIOS-0950866RUI: Lateral root initiation The ability to grow robust plants improves economic output, the ability to feed the world, and the ability to deal with the threat of climate change. The growth of a plant is in turn affected by its root system. Unlike animals, which are typically born with a set number of legs, the number and location of branches that a plant will form is not pre-determined. The architecture of any individual plant depends on the environment it is grown in. This project will improve understanding of the processes occurring within cells that control where and when new lateral roots form. It is already known that lateral root formation is induced on curved sections of roots in one plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana, but the details of why this occurs are still unclear. The project will use molecular genetic tools to test a current model for how lateral roots are induced. Specifically, the idea that induction of lateral root initiation results from increases in cell length, leading to changes in transport of the plant growth regulator auxin, will be tested. The project also will determine the extent to which the formation of lateral roots on curved regions of the root applies to a wide range of plants including some crop plants and commercially grown forest trees. Completing this project will further understanding of how roots grow. The knowledge gained from this project may inform genetic engineering of economically important plants in the future. It will also create opportunities for about 12 undergraduate students a year to participate in the research, through a combination of honors and independent study positions and through an investigative laboratory course. As the project is part of an international collaboration, these undergraduate students will be actively involved in the global research community, training that will enhance their development as scientists.