Signaling Network for Brassinosteroid-Regulated Gene Expression in Arabidopsis

对粮食、饲料和生物燃料的需求不断增加，这使得增加作物产量变得非常重要，特别是在不利的气候条件下。植物类固醇激素，油菜素类固醇(BRs)，具有提高作物产量和改善植物对细菌和真菌疾病以及干旱和高温等逆境的表现的潜力。了解BR在植物中的功能对于充分利用其有益效果是至关重要的。虽然BR信号通路已经被很好地建立起来，但BR如何调节数千个基因对各种激素的反应还不是很清楚。在这个项目中，研究人员将使用遗传、基因组和计算方法来建立基因调控网络，通过这些网络，BRS控制大量与植物生长和逆境耐受有关的基因的表达。虽然遗传和基因组研究将定义基因功能，但需要计算方法来建立模型，说明数百到数千个基因如何协调执行特定功能。结合功能基因组研究和计算模型来建立和验证激素信号的转录网络是新颖的，有望为BR信号网络提供前所未有的新见解。这些知识可以应用于农业，以增加作物产量。此外，在本项目范围内开发和验证的计算和生物信息学工具将适用于其他系统生物学研究。这项研究还将为研究生和本科生提供在功能基因组学和计算建模方面的出色培训机会。将招募高中科学教师参与这项研究，并将这种研究纳入高中科学教育。BR突变体将被引入一门本科实验室课程，在这门课程中，每年将有大量本科生设计并进行实验，以了解植物类固醇激素如何控制植物生长。

The increasing demand for food, feed and biofuel makes it very important to increase crop production, especially under adverse climate conditions. Plant steroid hormones, Brassinosteroids (BRs), have the potential to promote crop yield and improve plant performance against bacterial and fungal diseases and stresses such as drought and high temperature. Understanding BR functions in plants is essential to fully harvest its beneficial effects. Although BR signaling pathway has been well established, how BR regulates thousands of genes for various hormonal responses is not well understood. In this project, the investigators will use genetic, genomic, and computational approaches to establish gene regulatory networks through which BRs control the expression of the large number of genes for plant growth and stress tolerance. While the genetic and genomic studies will define the gene functions, the computational approach is required to build models for how hundreds to thousands of genes coordinate to carry out specific functions. The combination of functional genomic studies and computational modeling in establishing and validating transcriptional networks in hormone signaling is novel and is anticipated to provide unprecedented new insights into BR signaling network. The knowledge can be applied to agriculture to increase crop production. Moreover, the computational and bioinformatic tools developed and validated in the context of this project will be applicable to other systems biology studies. The research will also provide outstanding training opportunities at the interface of functional genomics and computational modeling for graduate and undergraduate students. High school science teachers will be recruited to participate in the research and to integrate such research into high school science education. The BR mutants will be introduced to an undergraduate laboratory course, in which a large number of undergraduate students each year will design and perform experiments to learn how plant steroid hormones control plant growth.