Systems Approaches to Identify Gene Regulatory Networks in the Grasses

PI: Erich Grotewold（俄亥俄州立大学）CoPIs: Andrea I Doseff（俄亥俄州立大学）和John Gray（托莱多大学）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中的一个新兴主题。该项目提供了一个协调一致的努力，全面剖析玉米酚类化合物代谢的基因调控网络，如苯丙素和类黄酮，对农业具有重要意义。本研究结合了发现控制玉米酚积累的新型转录因子（TFs），鉴定它们的相互作用伙伴以及个体和TF组合的直接靶基因。对基因调控的等位基因TF偏好的研究将提供适用于任何倍性水平的禾草的见解。已鉴定的tgf - dna复合物的进化保护/分化将在其他禾草中进行评估，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）的全面集中收集和几种调节蛋白抗体的产生，这些研究将显著促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其他重要代谢和发育途径的调控。通过web可访问的知识库GRASSIUS （www.grassius.org）和MaizeGDB （www.maizegdb.org）生成的数据在这里的部署将继续确保从这个项目中获得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。通过俄亥俄州立大学和托莱多大学之间的互动提供的协同作用，PI/co-PI所代表的弱势群体的学生参与的悠久历史将进一步扩大。俄亥俄州立大学是一所拥有领先研究成分的赠地大学，托莱多大学是一所拥有强大教育使命的多元文化研究广泛大学。在俄亥俄州立大学和波多黎各大学mayagez举办的讲习班上开发的工具和资源将作为正在进行的培训的补充。SIGuE（研究生教育的成功）项目的启动是专门为增加在研究生教育中未被充分代表的少数民族的招生和成功而设计的，它为更好地连接本科和研究生教学提供了一个自然的连续努力。

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.