Computational and Experimental Studies of Plastid Functional Networks

叶绿体是进行光合作用的场所，是绿色植物的决定性细胞器。它们具有减少大气中二氧化碳的重要作用，而二氧化碳最终是食物和饲料的来源。它们还参与许多对人类有用的营养物质和专门化学品的合成，并在感知环境变化方面发挥作用。叶绿体（和其他质体）的大部分功能是由细胞核编码的蛋白质执行的，细胞核是质体靶核基因（Plastid-targeted Nuclear Genes, PNGs）的产物。本项目将通过计算和实验相结合的方法，对模式植物拟南芥中png的转录调控机制进行了解，确定png的推测作用，并定义各种叶绿体功能之间的联系。png在氨基酸代谢网络中的功能将通过实验验证。这些研究将有助于更好地理解质体生物学，也将广泛地为生物学的系统方法提供信息。更广泛的影响：除了加强我们对质体功能中的调节和代谢网络的理解外，该项目将继续利用并通过公开可用的表型数据库（www.plastid.msu.edu）传播这些发现，该数据库在许多情况下对科学界具有价值，包括转基因作物的研究和开发。除了为博士后和研究生提供跨学科培训外，该项目还将把研究和教育作为一个成功的暑期实习计划的一部分（www.plantgenomics.msu.edu）。大三和大四的本科生每年夏天将在参与的实验室工作，进行与项目相关的研究。该项目将非常重视招募和培训代表性不足的少数民族和妇女。

Chloroplasts are the site of photosynthesis and the defining organelle of green plants. They have the essential role of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is ultimately the source of food and feed stocks. They are also involved in the synthesis of many nutrients and specialized chemicals useful to humans, as well as playing a role in sensing changes in the environment. Most of the functions of chloroplasts (and other plastids) are carried out by proteins encoded in the nucleus, the products of the Plastid-targeted Nuclear Genes (PNGs). This project, through an integration of computational and experimental approaches, will provide a mechanistic understanding of how PNGs are regulated transcriptionally in the model plant Arabidopsis, identify what the putative roles of the PNGs are, and define how various chloroplast functions are connected. Functions of PNGs implicated in amino acid metabolic networks will be experimentally verified. These studies will lead to a better understanding of plastid biology and will also broadly inform systems approaches to biology.Broader Impacts: In addition to enhancing our understanding of regulatory and metabolic networks in plastid function, this project will continue to make use of and disseminate the findings through a publicly available phenotype database (www.plastid.msu.edu ) that is of value to the scientific community in many contexts, including research and development for genetically-engineered crop plants. In addition to providing interdisciplinary training to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, the project will integrate research and education as part of a successful summer internship program (www.plantgenomics.msu.edu). Junior and senior undergraduate students will work in participating laboratories each summer performing research related to the project. This program will have a strong emphasis on the recruitment and training of underrepresented minorities and women.