RUI: Molecular Mechanisms of Flower Reversion in Arabidopsis suecica

植物开花是为了完成它们的生命周期和繁殖。花的发育需要在植物从营养阶段过渡到生殖阶段时，植物顶端的遗传和结构发生变化。在这段时间里，基因表达模式也决定了花的总体排列，称为花序，形成单个器官，不分枝或分枝的簇状，或成复合结构。在大多数(但不是所有)植物中，生殖枝会在开花结果后终止生长。我们最近对油用种子植物瑞典水芹(拟南芥)的研究表明，在某些光照条件下，这种终止被颠倒，转而产生多个复花穗。这个项目的中心目标是了解这种异常行为的遗传机制。利用包括原位杂交在内的分子技术，比较正常和异常花组织中的基因表达，以确定花发育基因的不同分布是否以及如何导致花构型的差异。经过检验的假设是，基因表达的强度和基因产物(蛋白质)在发育中的花序中的分布都是导致这些变化的原因。了解控制重要商业油料种子植物花序发育的遗传途径可用于提高种子产量。例如，创造具有更有利的花序结构的类型可能在生物燃料生产中有用。该项目将为本科生提供出色的培训机会。该项目将由普吉特湾大学(University Of Puget Sound)牵头，它主要是一所本科院校，与华盛顿大学(University Of Washington)和传统大学(Heritage University)合作，后者是华盛顿州中部的一所为少数族裔服务的学院。

Plants produce flowers to complete their life cycle and to reproduce. Flower development requires genetic and structural changes in the tip of the plant shoot as the plant transitions from its vegetative to its reproductive stage. During this time, gene expression patterns also determine the overall arrangement of the flowers, called the inflorescence, into single organs, unbranched or branched clusters, or into compound structures. In most, but not all plant species, the reproductive branches terminate their growth after flowers have given rise to fruits. Our recent study of the oil seed plant Swedish thale-cress (Arabidopsis suecica), a species that normally produces single flower spikes, showed that under certain light conditions this termination is reversed and multiple compound flower spikes are instead produced. The central aim of this project is to understand the genetic mechanisms for this abnormal behavior. Using molecular techniques, including in situ hybridization, gene expression will be compared in normal and abnormal floral tissues, to determine if and how the different distribution of flower development genes leads to the differences in floral architecture. The hypothesis tested is that both strength of gene expression and the distribution of the gene products (the proteins) within the developing inflorescence are responsible for these changes. Understanding the genetic pathways controlling inflorescence development in commercially important oil seed plants could be applied to efforts to enhance seed yield. Creating types with more favorable inflorescence architectures might be useful in biofuel production, for example.This project will provide outstanding training opportunities for undergraduate students. The project will be led by the University of Puget Sound, a primarily undergraduate institution, in collaboration with the University of Washington, and Heritage University, a minority-serving college in central Washington state.