Transcriptional Regulation of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis

次生细胞壁生物合成的转录调控

• 批准号: 1051900
• 负责人: Zheng-Hua Ye
• 金额: $ 50.61万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-03-01 至 2016-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1051900&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Transcriptional; Regulation; Secondary; Cell; Wall

Secondary walls are the major constituent of tracheary elements and fibers (types of plant cells) in wood, and constitute most abundant biomass produced by plants. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the switching on and off the genes (a process called transcription) needed for secondary wall biosynthesis during wood formation is a critical issue in plant biology and will have important implications in biofuel production. It was recently discovered that the secondary wall-associated NAC domain of the transcription factor SND1 (a protein that regulates transcription) is a master switch activating the developmental program of secondary wall biosynthesis. The current hypothesis is that SND1 together with its downstream transcription factors exert combinatorial transcriptional regulation of secondary wall biosynthetic genes. The aim of this project is to unravel this combinatorial transcriptional regulatory program by identification of direct targets of SND1 downstream transcription factors and investigation of the developmental switches controlling SND1 expression. The project outcomes will provide a comprehensive picture of how the concerted actions of multilayered transcriptional switches result in the activation of the secondary wall biosynthetic program. The proposed work will contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying wood formation, which will potentially provide valuable tools for genetically improving the quality and quantity of wood, the most important raw materials for traditional forest products and potentially for biofuel production. The project will also involve the training of graduate and undergraduate students and its outcomes will be disseminated in a timely fashion to enhance the understanding of plant biology research and its benefits to society.

次生壁是木材中导管分子和纤维（植物细胞类型）的主要组成部分，并且构成植物产生的最丰富的生物质。了解调控木材形成过程中次生壁生物合成所需基因的开启和关闭（一个称为转录的过程）的分子机制是植物生物学中的一个关键问题，并将对生物燃料生产产生重要影响。最近发现转录因子SND1（一种调节转录的蛋白质）的次级壁相关NAC结构域是激活次级壁生物合成的发育程序的主开关。目前的假说是SND1与其下游转录因子一起对次生壁生物合成基因进行组合转录调控。本项目的目的是通过鉴定SND1下游转录因子的直接靶点和研究控制SND1表达的发育开关来解开这种组合转录调控程序。该项目的成果将提供一个全面的图片如何多层转录开关的协同行动导致次生壁生物合成程序的激活。拟议的工作将有助于了解木材形成的分子机制，这将有可能提供宝贵的工具，从基因上改善木材的质量和数量，木材是传统森林产品最重要的原材料，也有可能用于生物燃料生产。该项目还将涉及对研究生和本科生的培训，其成果将及时传播，以增进对植物生物学研究及其对社会的惠益的了解。