Functional Analyses of SR1, A Calcium/Calmodulin-Regulated Transcription Factor, and VOZs, Vascular Plant One Zinc Finger Proteins, In Plant Immunity

智力优势：植物病原体(细菌、真菌和病毒)等应激源会造成粮食作物的巨大损失。了解植物对这种逆境做出反应并产生免疫力的机制，对于减少这种损失至关重要。钙是所有真核生物中的关键信号分子，几十年来一直与植物免疫有关，大量研究表明，细胞内钙水平在应对病原体攻击时发生了快速而短暂的变化。然而，钙是如何调节参与植物免疫的途径的，人们却知之甚少。这个项目涉及一个受钙调控的转录因子小家族；这些因子首先在植物中被发现，然后在动物中被发现。其中一个被命名为SR1的因子是植物免疫的负调节因子。SR1与另外两个转录因子相互作用。该项目的目标是利用遗传学、细胞生物学、生化、分子和生物信息学手段研究SR1相互作用蛋白在植物免疫中的生物学作用。将利用SR1相互作用转录因子的单突变和双突变来分析植物的防御反应，研究SR1中各种保守结构域的作用和功能意义，并将实现对SR1及其相互作用转录因子靶标的全面鉴定。总的来说，这个项目将有助于理解钙调节的转录因子在植物免疫中的功能。广泛的影响：从这个项目中获得的知识将与农业上重要的植物相关，因为钙调节的转录因子在作物中高度保守；更好地了解SR1及其相互作用的蛋白质的功能将在减少因感染植物病原体而导致的粮食作物腐败方面有潜在的应用。该项目将通过培训高中生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究员在遗传学、生物信息学、细胞和分子生物学的各个方面，并通过鼓励他们参加国家科学会议，将研究和教学结合起来。

Intellectual merit:Stressors such as plant pathogens (bacteria, fungi and viruses) cause enormous losses of food crops. Understanding the mechanisms by which plants respond to such stressors and develop immunity is critical to reducing such losses. Calcium, a key signaling molecule in all eukaryotes, has been implicated in plant immunity for decades, and numerous studies have revealed rapid and temporary changes in cellular calcium levels in response to pathogen attacks. However, how calcium regulates pathways involved in plant immunity is poorly understood. This project concerns a small family of transcription factors that are regulated by calcium; these factors were first discovered in plants and then in animals. One of these factors, named SR1, is a negative regulator of plant immunity. SR1 interacts with two other transcription factors. The goal of this project is to use genetic, cell biological, biochemical, molecular, and bioinformatics tools to study the biological roles of SR1-interacting proteins in plant immunity. Single and double mutants of SR1-interacting transcription factors will be used to analyze plant defense responses, the roles and functional significance of various conserved domains in SR1 will be studied, and global identification of targets of SR1 and its interacting transcription factors will be implemented. Overall, this project will contribute to understanding the functions of a calcium-regulated transcription factor in plant immunity.Broader Impacts: The knowledge obtained from this project will be relevant to agriculturally important plants as the calcium-modulated transcription factors are highly conserved in crop plants; a better understanding of the function of SR1 and its interacting proteins will have potential applications in reducing the food crop spoilage that results from infection with plant pathogens. This project will integrate research and teaching by training high school students, undergraduate students, a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher in various aspects of genetics, bioinformatics, cell and molecular biology and by encouraging their participation in national scientific meetings.