Bilateral BBSRC NSF/ Bio: Modelling Light Control of Development

环境中光可用性的变化可能是由侵入的植被或季节的进展引起的，并可能改变植物发育的过程。发育的灵活性（可塑性）使植物能够适应不断变化的环境，对它们的生存至关重要。在这个项目中，来自美国（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校）和英国（爱丁堡大学）的研究人员合作团队将使用数学建模和实验相结合的方法，在分子水平上研究光如何调节植物发育。了解植物对不断变化的环境（包括光照）的反应，将有助于提高粮食生产效率。该项目将支持非正式的科学教育，对初中和高中学生的推广，以及对博士后研究员和本科生的建模和实验技术培训。在整个植物生命周期中，光敏色素家族的光感受器检测光环境的变化，并传播植物结构的适应性变化，但尚不清楚这是如何在分子水平上执行的。这里提出的初步数据提供了令人信服的证据，光控制通过茎尖分生组织（SAM）的发展。HECTATE（HEC）转录因子最近已被证明通过调节SAM基因来控制细胞增殖。初步数据表明，HEC通过基于光敏色素相互作用因子（PIF）的机制发挥作用，这意味着PIF和SAM之间存在直接的分子联系。本研究将整合实验和理论方法：（1）阐明光控制SAM功能的分子事件;（2）开发光信号的新概念模型;（3）为植物育种提供植物结构操纵的技术进步。该项目受益于合作伙伴实验室提供的重要建模和数据存储/共享资源。该模型将有助于确定不同的光制度如何改变途径的动态和发展，提供一个系统水平的途径行为的理解。该项目的最终目标将是在分子和系统水平上了解光如何调节器官发生，为光信号传导提供新的范例。这个美国/英国合作项目得到了美国国家科学基金会和英国生物技术和生物科学研究理事会的支持。

Changes in light availability in the environment can be caused by encroaching vegetation or the progression of the seasons and can alter the course of plant development. Developmental flexibility (plasticity) allows plants to adapt to changing environments and is essential for their survival. In this project, a collaborative team of researchers from the US (University of Texas Austin) and the UK (Edinburgh University) will use a combination of mathematical modeling and experimentation to examine at the molecular level how light regulates plant development. Understanding plant responses to changing environments, including light, will allow for more efficient food production. This project will support informal science education, outreach to middle and high school students, and training in modeling and experimental techniques for postdoctoral fellows and undergraduate students.Throughout the plant life cycle, the phytochrome family of photoreceptors detect alterations in the light environment and propagates adaptive changes in plant architecture; however it is unclear how this is executed at the molecular level. The preliminary data presented here provide compelling evidence that light controls development via the Shoot Apical Meristem (SAM). HECTATE (HEC) transcription factors have recently been shown to control cell proliferation by regulating SAM genes. The preliminary data demonstrate that HECs operate through a Phytochrome Interaction Factor (PIF)-based mechanism, implying a direct molecular link between PIFs and the SAM. This study will integrate experimental and theoretical approaches to: (1) elucidate the molecular events through which light controls SAM function; (2) develop a new conceptual model for light signaling; and (3) provide technological advances in plant architecture manipulation for plant breeding. The project benefits from significant modelling and data storage/sharing resources offered by partner labs. The model will help to determine how different light regimes alter pathway dynamics and development, providing a systems level understanding of pathway behavior. The ultimate goal of the project will be to generate a molecular and systems level understanding of how light regulates organogenesis, providing a new paradigm for light signaling. This collaborative US/UK project is supported by the US National Science Foundation and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.