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

智力上的优点。细胞极性是一种基本的生物学过程，通过这种过程，细胞成分的不对称性是对内源性编程或外部提示的反应。它对所有生物的细胞形态发生、增殖和分化都是至关重要的。在不同生物体的研究中出现的一个关键概念是，定位于细胞皮质的蛋白质提供了决定生长地点和细胞分裂平面的空间线索。玉米黑粉菌非常适合于这里提出的研究，因为它有能力从酵母状形态转变为丝状形态，其中一种形态表现出高度极化的生长，它的遗传易操纵性，可用于操纵它的分子和细胞生物学工具，以及它的基因组序列。首席调查员在遗传筛选中鉴定了tea4基因，以分离细胞形态发生变化的突变株。它编码一种与分裂酵母Tea4相似的蛋白质，这已被证明是极化生长轴所必需的。Tea4包含在蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用中起作用的结构域。Ustilago Tea4含有酵母蛋白中没有的额外结构域，这表明Tea4可能在这种真菌中具有额外的功能。Ustilago中tea4基因的缺失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，生长速度减慢。这个项目的重点是了解Tea4是如何控制细胞极性和其他有助于细胞形状的过程的。我们在Ustilago中所了解的细胞极性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。该项目旨在将加州州立大学长滩分校的研究与教育相结合，这是一家综合性的拉美裔服务机构。这所大学提供了一个从代表性不足的群体中招收学生的绝佳机会，该项目非常适合让本科生和研究生参与研究。该项目将使学生能够学习如何提出假设，设计实验来检验它们，批判性地评估和解释实验结果，并学习解决问题和提出替代方法。此外，它还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国际和平协会和学生在科学会议上传播，并在同行评议的出版物中传播。该项目还将使国际和平研究所保持积极的研究计划，并将研究项目的成果纳入国际和平研究所教授的讲座和实验室课程的探究性学习中。这项研究的数据将在课堂上提供给学生进行分析、解释和小组讨论，使他们成为基于发现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.