Transcriptional Regulation of ELF4 Expression and Resetting of Circadian Clock by Light

ELF4表达的转录调控和光重置昼夜节律时钟

• 批准号: 1026630
• 负责人: Haiyang Wang
• 金额: $ 67.29万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1026630&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Transcriptional; Regulation; ELF4; Expression; Resetting

Circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological, or behavioral processes of living entities, including both plants and animals. The circadian clock plays a crucial role in plant biology, and hence in agriculture, because outputs controlled by the clock include the timing of germination, diurnal optimization of photosynthesis, and floral transition. Each has been shown to be crucial for plant fitness. The circadian rhythms can be synchronized by the day/night cycle so that plants can correctly anticipate dawn and dusk. Although the photoreceptors involved in perceiving the light signals have been well established, how the light signals are transduced from the photoreceptors to the central clock remain largely unknown. In addition, little is known about how the rhythmic expression pattern of central clock genes and cyclic output responses (such as growth and photosynthetic activity of plants) are generated and controlled. The goal of this project is to investigate the role of a set of light- and circadian clock-regulated transcription factors (FHY3, FAR1, HY5, CCA1 and LHY) in transcriptional regulation of EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4, a central clock component) gene expression and resetting of the circadian clock in response to changes in daily light conditions. It is expected that results from this study will provide fresh insights into the transcriptional circuitry underlying circadian clock regulation and lead to a better understanding of the physiology and reproduction in higher plants. In turn, the obtained information has the potential to be used for future application in optimizing growth of crop plants (such as increased fitness, increased hybrid vigor and latitudinal growth limit). This project will also provide excellent training opportunities for school children, undergraduate, graduate students and postdoc fellows.

昼夜节律（英语：Circadian rhythm）是生物体（包括植物和动物）的生化、生理或行为过程中的一个大约24小时的周期。生物钟在植物生物学中起着至关重要的作用，因此在农业中也是如此，因为生物钟控制的输出包括发芽的时间，光合作用的昼夜优化和花的转变。每一个都被证明对植物的健康至关重要。昼夜节律可以通过昼夜循环同步，以便植物可以正确地预测黎明和黄昏。虽然参与感知光信号的光感受器已经很好地建立，但光信号如何从光感受器转换到中央时钟仍然是未知的。此外，关于中央时钟基因的节律性表达模式和周期性输出响应（如植物的生长和光合活性）是如何产生和控制的，人们知之甚少。该项目的目标是研究一组光和昼夜节律钟调节的转录因子（FHY3，FAR1，HY5，CCA 1和LHY）在EARLY FLOWER4（ELF 4，中央时钟组件）基因表达的转录调节和响应于日常光照条件变化的昼夜节律钟重置中的作用。预计这项研究的结果将为生物钟调控的转录电路提供新的见解，并有助于更好地了解高等植物的生理和繁殖。反过来，所获得的信息有可能被用于优化作物植物生长的未来应用（如增加的健身，增加的杂种优势和纬度生长限制）。该项目还将为学生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究员提供极好的培训机会。