RUI: Control of the Axis of Polarized Growth by Tea4 in the Fungus Ustilago Maydis

智力优势。 细胞极性是一个基本的生物学过程，细胞成分的不对称性是响应于内源性编程或外部线索而产生的。 它对所有生物体中的细胞形态发生、增殖和分化至关重要。 从对不同生物体的研究中出现的一个关键概念是，定位于细胞皮层的蛋白质提供了空间线索，决定了生长的部位和细胞分裂的平面。 真菌玉米黑粉菌是理想的适合于这里提出的研究，因为它的能力，从一个酵母样的丝状形态，高度极化的增长表现出这些形式之一，其遗传易处理性，分子和细胞生物学工具的可用性，其基因组序列的可用性。 tea 4基因由主要研究者在遗传筛选中鉴定，以分离具有改变的细胞形态的突变体。 它编码一种与分裂酵母Tea 4相似的蛋白质，已被证明是极化生长轴所必需的。 Tea 4含有指示在蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用中的作用的结构域。 黑粉菌Tea 4含有酵母蛋白中不存在的额外结构域，这表明Tea 4可能在这种真菌中具有额外的功能。 在黑粉菌属中缺失tea 4基因导致极化生长轴改变、细胞分裂平面错位、细胞壁沉积异常、细胞宽度改变和生长速率降低。 该项目的重点是了解Tea 4如何控制细胞极性和其他有助于细胞形状的过程。 我们对黑粉菌属细胞极性的了解通常与其他细胞相关，特别是那些经历细胞形态变化的细胞和那些表现出极端极化的细胞，如花粉管、根毛、轴突神经元和真菌菌丝。 该项目旨在将研究与教育结合在加州州立大学长海滩，一个综合性的西班牙裔服务机构。 这所大学提供了一个很好的机会，从代表性不足的群体招收学生，该项目非常适合从事研究的本科生和研究生。 该项目将使学生能够学习如何提出假设，设计实验来测试它们，批判性地评估和解释实验结果，并学习故障排除和提出替代方法。 此外，它将为他们提供学习基本微生物学，分子和细胞生物学技术，显微镜和图像捕获分析的机会。 这项研究的结果将由PI和学生在科学会议上传播，并在同行评审的出版物中传播。 该项目还将使PI保持积极的研究计划，并将研究项目的结果纳入PI教授的讲座和实验室课程的探究式学习中。 本研究的数据将提供给学生在课堂上进行分析，解释和小组讨论，使他们成为发现为基础的知识的积极参与者。

INTELLECTUAL MERIT. Cell polarity is a fundamental biological process by which asymmetry of cell components is generated in response to endogenous programming or external cues. It is crucial for cell morphogenesis, proliferation, and differentiation in all organisms. One key concept to emerge from studies in diverse organisms is that proteins that localize to the cell cortex provide spatial cues that determine the site of growth and the plane of cell division. The fungus Ustilago maydis is ideally suited for the studies proposed here because of its ability to switch from a yeast-like to a filamentous morphology, the highly polarized growth exhibited by one of these forms, its genetic tractability, the availability of molecular and cell biological tools for its manipulation, and availability of its genome sequence. The tea4 gene was identified by the Principal Investigator in a genetic screen to isolate mutants with altered cell morphology. It codes for a protein with similarity to fission yeast Tea4, which has been shown to be necessary for the axis of polarized growth. Tea4 contains domains indicative of a role in protein-protein interactions. Ustilago Tea4 contains additional domains not present in the yeast protein, which suggests that Tea4 may have additional functions in this fungus. Deletion of the tea4 gene in Ustilago results in an altered axis of polarized growth, misplaced plane of cell division, aberrant cell wall deposition, altered cell width, and reduced rate of growth. The focus of this project is to understand how Tea4 controls cell polarity and other processes that contribute to cell shape. What we learn about cell polarity in Ustilago will be generally relevant to other cells, particularly, those that undergo changes in cell morphology and those that exhibit extreme polarization such as pollen tubes, root hairs, axonal neurons, and fungal hyphae.BROADER IMPACTS. This project aims to integrate research with education at California State University-Long Beach, a comprehensive Hispanic serving institution. This university provides an excellent opportunity to recruit students from underrepresented groups and the project is ideally suited to engage undergraduate and graduate students in research. The project will make it possible for the students to learn how to pose hypotheses, design experiments to test them, critically evaluate and interpret experimental results, and learn to troubleshoot and propose alternative approaches. In addition, It will offer them the opportunity to learn basic microbiological, molecular and cell biological techniques, microscopy and image-capture analysis. The results of this research will be disseminated at scientific meetings by the PI and students, and in peer-reviewed publications. This project will also allow the PI to maintain an active research program and to incorporate findings of the research project in inquiry-based learning in lecture and laboratory courses taught by the PI. Data from this research will be provided to the students in the classroom for analysis, interpretation and group discussion so that they become active participants in discovery-based knowledge.