Genes and Networks Regulating Shoot Maturation and Flower Production in Tomato and Related Nightshades

PI：Zachary B。李普曼（冷泉港实验室）合作PI：Michael C. Schatz（冷泉港实验室）和Joyce货车Eck（博伊斯Thompson植物研究所）主要合作者：Molly Hammell和Jesse Gillis（冷泉港实验室）植物在其一生中产生的花朵数量存在显着变化。这种广泛的变异可以追溯到植物如何、何时、何地从长叶转变为开花的差异。虽然对作物产量至关重要，但在许多类型的植物中，对开花的过渡以及随后对芽生长和花产量的影响仍然知之甚少。例如，人们仍然不知道为什么一种植物在每次开花过渡时只形成一朵花，如辣椒，而另一种植物会长出几十个分枝，上面有几百朵花，如某些类型的番茄。为了解决植物生物学中的这一基本问题，该项目正在整合番茄和相关茄科植物（如辣椒，马铃薯和矮牵牛）中的一套独特的遗传，基因组和自然变异工具，以揭示控制植物在整个发育过程中如何，何时以及在何处经历开花过渡的基因和网络，以不断产生新的分支和花朵。通过分析广泛的番茄突变体和野生茄科物种反映了广泛的花生产，本研究将确定和表征基因表达和DNA序列的差异，在开花过渡和花生产的变化。这个多维度的项目将提供迄今为止最详细的关于驱动农业和野生植物开花的关键遗传调节因子的信息，这将使新策略的应用能够提高作物产量。茄科是蔬菜作物生产中最有价值的科，我们将向公众和科学界提供番茄、辣椒和可食用野生茄科物种的广泛遗传和基因组数据，这些物种有可能成为重要的农业作物。本项目将培养高中和大学生跨学科植物研究，与纽约皇后区的一所小学合作开发了一个独特的推广项目，以激发年轻学生对植物生物学的兴趣，并解释整合多个研究学科以创造确保粮食安全的知识和工具的重要性。学生们将与科学家见面，在自己的学校体验植物遗传研究，在“虚拟温室”中进行实验，玩儿童友好的遗传游戏，并练习科学写作。每年，一些学生将被授予为期一天的访问CSHL体验第一手，现代植物生物学研究。该项目的所有数据，包括基因表达、遗传图谱、网络分析和用于分析DNA序列的计算工具，将在通过质量控制后立即提供。所有DNA序列数据将存入Genbank（http：//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/）、SOL基因组学网络（SGN）网站（http：//www.sgn.cornell.edu/）和一个即将开发的项目网站。

PI: Zachary B. Lippman (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)Co-PIs: Michael C. Schatz (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) and Joyce Van Eck (Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research)Key Collaborators: Molly Hammell and Jesse Gillis (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Plants show remarkable variation in the number of flowers they produce during their lifetime. This widespread variation traces back to differences in how, when, and where plants switch from making leaves to making flowers - the flowering transition. Although vitally important to crop yields, the transition to flowering and the subsequent effects on shoot growth and flower production remain poorly understood in many types of plants. For example, it is still not known why one plant will form just a single flower each time there is a flowering transition, as in pepper, and yet another plant will grow dozens of branches bearing hundreds of flowers, as in some types of tomato. To address this fundamental question in plant biology, this project is uniting a unique set of genetic, genomic, and natural variation tools in tomato and related Solanaceae plants, such as pepper, potato, and petunia, to reveal the genes and networks controlling how, when, and where plants undergo flowering transitions throughout development to continuously generate new branches and flowers. By analyzing a wide range of tomato mutants and wild Solanaceae species reflecting a wide range of flower production, this research will identify and characterize the differences in gene expression and DNA sequences that underlie variation in flowering transitions and flower production. This multi-dimensional project will provide the most detailed information yet on the key genetic regulators that drive the initiation and production of flowers in both agricultural and wild plants, which will enable the application of novel strategies to improve crop yields. The Solanaceae comprise the most valuable family for vegetable crop production, and we will deliver to both the public and scientific community broad genetic and genomic data in tomato, pepper, and edible wild Solanaceae species that have the potential to become agriculturally important crops.This project will train high school and college students in interdisciplinary plant research, and a unique outreach program has been developed with an elementary school in Queens, New York to excite young students about plant biology and to explain the importance of integrating multiple research disciplines to create the knowledge and tools that will ensure food security. Students will meet scientists, experience plant genetic research in their own school, experiment in a "Virtual Greenhouse" with kid-friendly genetics games, and practice science writing. Each year, several students will be awarded a daylong visit to CSHL to experience firsthand, modern plant biology research. All data from this project, including gene expression, genetic mapping, network analyses, and computational tools for analyzing DNA sequences will be made publically available immediately after passing quality control. All DNA sequence data will be deposited in Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/), the SOL Genomics Network (SGN) website (http://www.sgn.cornell.edu/), and a project web site that will be developed.