Genetic and Genomic Approaches to Understanding the Role of Auxin in Shoot Development

主要研究者：宝拉·麦克斯汀（密苏里州-哥伦比亚大学）CoPIs：Simon Malcomber（加州州立大学-长滩），Andrea Gallavotti和Yunde Zhao（加州-圣地亚哥大学）高级人员：娜奥米·奥特曼和雷卡·阿尔伯特（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）合作者：罗伯特·施密特（加州-圣地亚哥大学）激素生长素几乎调节植物生长和发育的各个方面，包括叶和花的形成，以及茎和花簇（花序）的分枝。该项目的长期目标是了解如何通过生长素生物合成，运输和信号转导途径调节芽（植物的地上部分）生长，以及这些机制和相互作用在大约250，000种开花植物中的保守程度。将使用玉米中的高通量正向遗传学和玉米和拟南芥中的比较表达谱的组合来鉴定和表征在生长素介导的芽发育中起作用的基因。反向遗传分析将被用来揭示基因在这些途径中的功能，这些功能可能不明显，从单独的正向遗传方法。将使用转基因报告细胞系结合表征突变体的表型、表达和遗传分析来分析基因功能，以组装遗传相互作用网络。将建立基因调控网络模型，将表达谱数据与遗传和生化相互作用研究相结合。使用现有的基因组数据和研究过程中分离的基因对已识别的基因家族进行系统发育学表征，将提供有关所有开花植物中生长素机制的保守性和多样性的框架和一系列可测试的假设。该项目的研究结果将有助于更好地了解生长素如何控制农艺和经济上重要作物的枝条生长和发育。通过一系列的培训和推广计划，该项目将为高中生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员提供学习和应用广泛的遗传、发育、进化、基因组、统计、数学和生物信息学工具。年度夏季研讨会和交流计划将加强跨学科的植物科学培训和跨领域的对话。该项目的结果将被纳入美国植物学会的种植科学计划（http：//www.plantingscience.org/），以创建在线开放式，基于调查的教育材料，重点是生长素的作用和植物生物学的跨学科性质，供全国高中学生使用。该项目的材料将提供新的资源和工具，以研究生长素在开花植物的植物生长和发育中所起的作用，以及提高不同作物品种产量的新信息和策略。项目数据将通过项目网站（http：//www.example.com）提供。www.auxinevodevo.org 此外，突变体原种可从玉米库原种中心（http：//maizecoop.cropsci.uiuc.edu/）获得，表型和遗传数据（包括图谱位置）将保存在MaizeGDB（http：//www.maizegdb.org/），表达谱数据将保存在植物表达数据库（http：//www.plexdb.org/），系统发育树将保存在TREEBASE（http：www.treebase.org），序列将保存在Genbank（http：//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/）和Plant GDB（http：www.plantgdb.org）。

PI: Paula McSteen (University of Missouri - Columbia)CoPIs: Simon Malcomber (California State University - Long Beach), Andrea Gallavotti and Yunde Zhao (University of California - San Diego)Senior Personnel: Naomi Altman and Reka Albert (The Pennsylvania State University)Collaborator: Robert Schmidt (University of California - San Diego)The hormone auxin regulates almost every aspect of plant growth and development, including leaf and flower formation, and stem and flower cluster (inflorescence) branching. The long-term goal of this project is to understand how shoot (the above ground portion of a plant) growth is regulated through pathways of auxin biosynthesis, transport and signal transduction, and the extent to which these mechanisms and interactions are conserved among the approximately 250,000 described species of flowering plants. Genes that function in auxin mediated shoot development will be identified and characterized using a combination of high throughput forward genetics in maize and comparative expression profiling in both maize and Arabidopsis. Reverse genetic analyses will be used to uncover the function of genes in these pathways that may not be apparent from forward genetic approaches alone. Gene function will be analyzed using transgenic reporter lines coupled with phenotypic, expression and genetic analyses of characterized mutants to assemble a network of genetic interactions. A gene regulatory network model will be built to integrate the data from expression profiling together with genetic and biochemical interaction studies. Phylogenetic characterization of identified gene families using available genomic data and genes isolated during the course of the research will provide a framework and series of testable hypotheses concerning the conservation and diversification of auxin mechanisms in all flowering plants. The findings from this project will lead to a better understanding of how auxin controls shoot growth and development in agronomically and economically important crops.Through a series of training and outreach programs this project will provide opportunities for high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers to learn and apply a broad range of genetic, developmental, evolutionary, genomic, statistical, mathematical and bioinformatic tools. Annual summer workshops and exchange programs will augment inter-disciplinary plant science training and dialog across fields. Results from the project will be incorporated into the Botanical Society of America's Planting Science program (http://www.plantingscience.org/) to create online open-ended, inquiry-based educational materials focusing on the role of auxin and the interdisciplinary nature of plant biology for high school students across the nation. Materials from this project will provide new resources and tools to investigate the role played by auxin in plant growth and development across flowering plants, and new information and strategies for improving crop yield in diverse crop species. Project data will be made available through the project website (http://www.auxinevodevo.org). In addition, mutant stocks will be available from the Maize Coop Stock Center (http://maizecoop.cropsci.uiuc.edu/), phenotypic and genetic data including map locations will be deposited at MaizeGDB (http://www.maizegdb.org/), expression profiling data will be deposited at the Plant Expression Database (http://www.plexdb.org/), phylogenetic trees will be deposited at TREEBASE (http://www.treebase.org) and sequences will be deposited in Genbank(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and Plant GDB (http://www.plantgdb.org).