Functional Roles of Small RNAs in Plant-Cyst Nematode Interactions

小RNA在植物-胞囊线虫相互作用中的功能作用

• 批准号: 1145053
• 负责人: Thomas Baum
• 金额: $ 60.79万
• 依托单位: Iowa State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1145053&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Functional; Roles; Small; RNAs; Plant

Cyst nematodes are parasitic roundworms of plant roots that cause severe yield and quality loss in many agricultural systems. In the US, the soybean cyst nematode is the most serious pathogen problem in soybean production. Only very limited control options for these plant pathogens exist and further research into their biology is needed to uncover novel control targets. In order for cyst nematodes to be successful, they need to be able to completely change their host plant at the cellular and physiological level. At the heart of these changes are massive alterations of plant gene expression patterns under the control of the nematode, i.e., these plant parasites are able to reprogram plant cells for their own benefit. It is unknown how cyst nematodes are able to do this, but the investigators will use the model plant Arabidopsis and the beet cyst nematode to explore a new mechanism that they have shown to be involved in cyst nematode parasitism, namely the effects of plant microRNAs (miRNAs), which are powerful regulators of gene expression. The investigators will characterize four miRNAs that they have shown to be active at the site of nematode infection and they will identify additional regulatory RNAs. As a result, the scientific community will gain understanding of cyst nematode parasitism and, more importantly, this project will identify potential avenues to interfere with cyst nematode parasitism with the goal to engineer crop plants that are resistant, which would eliminate billions of dollars in yield loss world-wide. Broader impacts are the training of young scientists as well as an involvement of high school teachers who will produce a training video module on cyst nematodes, which will be an eye-opening teaching tool for students of all backgrounds.

孢囊线虫是寄生在植物根部的蛔虫，在许多农业系统中导致严重的产量和质量损失。 在美国，大豆孢囊线虫是大豆生产中最严重的病原体问题。 这些植物病原体的控制选择非常有限，需要对其生物学进行进一步研究，以发现新的控制目标。 为了使孢囊线虫获得成功，它们需要能够在细胞和生理水平上完全改变其宿主植物。 这些变化的核心是线虫控制下植物基因表达模式的巨大改变，即，这些植物寄生虫能够为自己的利益重新编程植物细胞。 目前尚不清楚孢囊线虫是如何做到这一点的，但研究人员将使用模式植物拟南芥和甜菜孢囊线虫来探索一种新的机制，他们已经证明这种机制与孢囊线虫寄生有关，即植物microRNAs（miRNAs）的影响，这是基因表达的强大调节因子。 研究人员将表征四种在线虫感染部位具有活性的miRNAs，并将鉴定其他调控RNA。 因此，科学界将获得对孢囊线虫寄生的了解，更重要的是，该项目将确定干扰孢囊线虫寄生的潜在途径，目标是设计具有抗性的作物，这将消除全球数十亿美元的产量损失。 更广泛的影响是培训青年科学家，以及高中教师的参与，他们将制作一个关于孢囊线虫的培训视频模块，这将是一个让所有背景的学生大开眼界的教学工具。