Characterizing the Role of Transcriptional Repression in Maize Development and Domestication

世界上的大部分粮食供应直接或间接由少数几种种植的谷物品种提供。谷物通过生殖过程产生其主要的可食用产品谷物，该生殖过程发生在称为小穗的特殊结构中，最终形成花朵。小穗的形成受到一个基因网络的仔细调控，这些基因在发育过程中的特定时间发挥作用。这是通过精确控制基因活性来实现的，无论是通过激活还是抑制机制。玉米REL2蛋白在许多发育过程中对抑制基因活性是必不可少的，其中包括那些调节小穗和花的形成的过程。在这项研究中，我们研究了REL2和类似REL2的蛋白在玉米这一重要经济作物物种发育过程中的作用。总体而言，这项研究将揭示控制小穗和花形成的分子机制，并将对玉米和其他有农学价值的物种的基础和应用植物研究产生深远的影响。该项目将影响本科生和博士后研究人员，为他们提供广泛的遗传、发育和基因组技能。高中生和教师还将接受培训，了解蛋白质相互作用网络在生物系统中的重要性。这项拟议的研究结合了遗传学、分子和基因组方法，剖析了REL2介导的转录抑制在玉米发育中的作用，最终将导致：i)REL2辅阻遏子基因家族的功能特征；ii)小穗和花形成的综合模型；iii)对玉米小穗驯化中关键步骤的机械理解；以及iv)在不同发育途径中调节转录抑制的新蛋白质的发现。

Most of the world's food supply is provided either directly or indirectly by a few cultivated cereal species. Cereals generate their main edible product, grains, through a reproductive process that takes place in specialized structures called spikelets, which eventually give rise to flowers. Spikelet formation is carefully regulated by a network of genes that function at specific times during development. This is achieved through precise control of gene activity, either by activating or repressing mechanisms. The maize REL2 protein is essential for repressing gene activity in many developmental processes, among which are those that regulate the formation of spikelets and flowers. In this proposal the role of REL2 and REL2-like proteins are investigated in the development of maize, an economically important crop species. Overall, this research will reveal the molecular mechanisms controlling spikelet and flower formation, and will have far-reaching ramifications for both basic and applied plant research in maize and other agronomically valuable species. This project will impact undergraduate students and a post-doctoral researcher, providing them with a broad range of genetic, developmental, and genomic skills. High-school students and teachers will also be trained and exposed to the importance of protein interaction networks in biological systems.The proposed research integrates genetic, molecular and genomic approaches to dissect the role of REL2-mediated transcriptional repression during maize development and will ultimately lead to: i) the functional characterization of the REL2 corepressor gene family; ii) the development of an integrated model for spikelet and flower formation; iii) a mechanistic understanding of a key step in the domestication of maize spikelets; and iv) the discovery of new proteins mediating transcriptional repression in different developmental pathways.