Gene Regulatory Processes and Networks Required to Make a Soybean Seed

制造大豆种子所需的基因调控过程pi: Robert B. Goldberg（加州大学洛杉矶分校）合作pi: John J. Harada（加州大学戴维斯分校）和Matteo Pellegrini（加州大学洛杉矶分校）在未来的50年里，必须在更少的土地上生产出比整个人类历史所需的更多的食物。因此，21世纪的主要挑战是利用最先进的基因技术提高大豆等主要作物的产量。种子是人类和动物食用的主要食物来源，该项目的长期目标是了解制造种子所需的所有监管网络。在这个过程中，可以设计新的方法来提高种子产量，从而提高粮食产量。大豆是这类研究的理想选择，因为大豆种子是世界上最大的蛋白质饲料和植物油来源之一，每年为美国提供300亿美元的农业价值。此外，大豆种子已经在细胞和分子水平上得到了很好的研究，现在可以获得完整的大豆基因组序列。本研究项目将对大豆种子发育的各个方面进行研究，包括从胚形成到种子休眠。为了实现这一目标，该项目将使用激光切割和捕获单个细胞并对其基因组进行测序。然后将研究三种类型的基因组数据，包括：(1)mRNA序列集，(2)microRNA群体，以及(3)特定大豆种子区室的DNA甲基化模式。该项目将整合这些数据集，从而提供制造大豆种子所需的所有相互作用的遗传成分的综合视图。适当的种子发育影响人类营养所需的蛋白质和碳水化合物的合成和储存。通过确定种子灌浆过程中运行的网络，本项目将为今后提供一个新的遗传工具包。生成的序列数据将通过项目网站（http://seedgenenetwork.net/）和大豆基因组序列门户网站SoyBase存储在GenBank中并可供使用。来自三所大学（包括一所历史悠久的非裔美国大学）的理工科和文科专业的本科生也将参与这个项目，以体验科学发现的兴奋和植物基因组学在社会中所扮演的角色。

Gene Regulatory Processes Required to Make a Soybean SeedPI: Robert B. Goldberg (University of California Los Angeles)Co-PIs: John J. Harada (University of California Davis) and Matteo Pellegrini (University of California Los Angeles)During the next 50 years, more food must be produced on less land than has been required during the entire history of humankind. A major challenge for the 21st century, therefore, is to increase the yield of major crop plants, such as soybean, using state-of-the-art genetic technologies. Seeds represent a major source of food for human and animal consumption and the long-term goal of this project is to understand all the regulatory networks required to make a seed. In the process, novel approaches can be designed for increasing seed yield and, therefore, food production. Soybean is ideal for this kind of study because soybean seeds are one of the largest sources of protein feed and vegetable oil in the world, providing $30 billion annually in farm value to the U.S. Also, soybean seeds have been well studied at the cell and molecular level and the full soybean genome sequence is now available. This research project will characterize all aspects of soybean seed development from embryo inception to seed dormancy. To accomplish this goal, the project will use a laser to cut and capture individual cells and sequence their genomes. Three types of genomic data will then be studied including: (1) mRNA sequence sets, (2) microRNA populations, and (3) DNA methylation patterns of specific soybean seed compartments. This project will integrate these datasets and will thereby provide a comprehensive view of all the interacting genetic components needed to make a soybean seed. Proper seed development impacts the synthesis and storage of proteins and carbohydrates needed for human nutrition. By identifying the networks operating during seed filling, this project will provide a new genetic toolkit for future use. The sequence data generated will be deposited and available at GenBank, through the project website (http://seedgenenetwork.net/) and at SoyBase, the portal for the soybean genome sequence. Undergraduates majoring in both science and humanities from three universities, including a historically African-American university, will also participate in this project in order to experience the excitement of scientific discovery and the role plant genomics plays in society.