Systems Approaches to Identify Gene Regulatory Networks in the Grasses

主要研究者：Erich Grotewold（The俄亥俄州州立大学）CoPI：Andrea I Doseff（The俄亥俄州州立大学和John Gray（University of Toledo）建立基因调控网络的架构并将系统组件与农艺性状联系起来是植物系统生物学的一个新兴主题。该项目提供了一个协调一致的努力，全面剖析基因调控网络，目标是玉米酚类化合物的代谢，如苯丙素类和黄酮类化合物，具有根本的农业重要性。本研究结合了控制玉米酚类积累的新型转录因子（TF）的发现，并确定了它们的相互作用伙伴和个体和TF组合的直接靶基因。等位基因TF偏好基因调控的调查将提供的见解，将适用于禾本科植物，无论倍性水平。鉴定的TF-DNA复合物的进化保守性/分歧将在其他禾本科植物中进行评估，提供对进化如何影响植物基因调控系统的无与伦比的理解，并产生直接适用于谷物育种的知识。随着玉米转录因子开放阅读框（ORF）集合和几种调节蛋白的抗体的产生，这些研究将显著推进对植物中最重要的植物代谢途径之一的调节和进化的理解。所产生的资源将有助于加速研究玉米和其他禾本科植物中其他重要代谢和发育途径的调控。通过网络访问的知识库GRASSIUS（www.grassius.org）和MaizeGDB（www.maizegdb.org）生成的数据的部署将继续确保来自该项目的发现将得到尽可能广泛的传播。该项目整合了遗传学，分子生物学，生物化学，数学和生物信息学，用于禾本科作物中酚类化合物的比较转录基因组学。它的跨学科性质为跨多个学科的学生和博士后的培训提供了独特的机会。通过俄亥俄州州立大学（一所拥有领先研究组成部分的赠地大学）和托莱多大学（一所拥有强大教育使命的多文化研究型大学）之间的互动，将进一步扩大PI/co-PI代表性不足群体的学生参与的强大历史。正在进行的培训将通过应用在俄亥俄州州立大学和波多黎各马亚圭斯大学的讲习班上开发的工具和资源得到补充。SIGUE（研究生教育的成功）计划的成立，专门为增加研究生教育中代表性不足的少数民族的招聘和成功而设计，为更好地连接本科和研究生教学提供了一个自然的连续体。

PI: Erich Grotewold (The Ohio State University)CoPIs: Andrea I Doseff (The Ohio State University and John Gray (University of Toledo)Establishing the architecture of gene regulatory networks and linking system components to agronomic traits is an emerging theme in plant systems biology. This project provides a concerted effort to comprehensively dissect the gene regulatory networks that target the metabolism of maize phenolic compounds, such as phenylpropanoids and flavonoids, of fundamental agricultural importance. This study combines the discovery of novel transcription factors (TFs) that control maize phenolic accumulation, with the identification of their interaction partners and of direct target genes for individual and TF combinations. The investigation of allelic TF preference to gene regulation will provide insights that will be applicable to grasses irrespective of ploidy level. The evolutionary conservation/divergence of identified TF-DNA complexes will be evaluated in other grasses, providing an unparalleled understanding of how evolution impacted plant gene regulatory systems, and resulting in knowledge directly applicable to cereal breeding. Together with the generation of a comprehensive and centralized maize transcription factor open reading frame (ORF) collection and antibodies to several regulatory proteins, these studies will significantly advance understanding of the regulation and evolution of one of the most important plant metabolic pathways in plants. The resources generated will be useful in accelerating the study of the regulation of other important metabolic and developmental pathways in maize and other grasses. The deployment of the data here generated through the Web-accessible knowledge base GRASSIUS (www.grassius.org) and MaizeGDB (www.maizegdb.org) will continue to ensure that the findings derived from this project will have the broadest possible dissemination.This project integrates genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, mathematics, and bioinformatics for the comparative transcriptional genomics of phenolic compounds in grass crops. Its interdisciplinary nature provides unique opportunities for the training of students and postdocs across several disciplines. The strong history of involvement of students corresponding to underrepresented groups by the PI/co-PIs will be further expanded through the synergy provided by the interaction between Ohio State University, a land-grant university with a leading research component, and University of Toledo, a multicultural research extensive university with a strong education mission. Ongoing training will be complemented by the application of tools and resources developed here in workshops at Ohio State University and the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez. The inception of SIGuE (Success In Graduate Education) program, specifically designed to increase the recruitment and success of underrepresented minorities in graduate education, provides a natural continuum in efforts to better connect undergraduate and graduate instruction.