Systems Approaches to Identify Gene Regulatory Networks in the Grasses

Pi：Erich Grotewold(俄亥俄州立大学)Copis：Andrea I Dosef(俄亥俄州立大学)和John Gray(托莱多大学)建立基因调控网络的体系结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。该项目提供了一项共同努力，以全面剖析针对玉米酚类化合物代谢的基因调控网络，如苯丙烷类和类黄酮类，这对农业具有重要意义。这项研究结合了控制玉米酚类物质积累的新型转录因子的发现，以及它们的相互作用伙伴的鉴定和单个转录因子和转录因子组合的直接靶基因的鉴定。研究等位基因Tf对基因调控的偏好性将提供适用于不同倍性水平的禾本科植物的见解。已确定的Tf-DNA复合体的进化保守性/差异性将在其他牧草中进行评估，从而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架(ORF)集合和几种调节蛋白抗体的建立，这些研究将极大地促进对植物中最重要的代谢途径之一的调控和进化的理解。产生的资源将有助于加快研究玉米和其他牧草的其他重要代谢和发育途径的调控。通过网络可访问知识库GRASSIUS(www.grassius.org)和MaizeGDB(www.maizegdb.org)生成的数据的部署将继续确保该项目得出的结果将具有最广泛的传播。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，用于草类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几个学科的学生和博士后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，将通过俄亥俄州立大学和托莱多大学之间的互动，进一步扩大PI/共同PIS对应于代表不足群体的学生的强大历史。正在进行的培训将通过在俄亥俄州立大学和波多黎各大学马亚格斯大学的讲习班上开发的工具和资源的应用来补充。SIGUE(研究生教育成功)计划的启动，专门旨在增加研究生教育中代表性不足的少数群体的招聘和成功，为更好地将本科生和研究生教学联系起来提供了一个自然的连续统一体。

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.