Elucidating Gene Network Modules Regulating Inter-specific Diversity in Plant Leaf Shape

陆地植物将太阳能转化为化学能是农业生产力的来源。这一过程发生在叶子中，但不同类型的叶子在产生碳化合物的能力上是如何不同的，人们还不太清楚。我们也不知道基因是如何作用和相互作用来产生不同形状和大小的叶子的。这个项目将利用分析基因如何被调节来产生基因产物，这些基因产物相互作用，产生连锁反应，最终导致不同形式叶子的形成。这种理解将使我们能够操纵基因表达来产生更有效的叶片形式。该项目还将传播基因调控和叶片功能方面的知识，并为一个以西班牙裔为主的学区的高中生提供实践研究经验。形态多样性是如何产生的是生物学中的一个关键问题。被子植物的叶片形态具有很大的多样性，许多物种的叶片发育已被确定，这使叶片成为了解形态自然变异机制的理想目标。叶片在产生生物量和导致农业产量方面也具有重要的功能。本研究基于番茄及其近缘植物叶片发育的基因共表达网络。分子实验和假设检验验证了生物信息学预测的基因调控网络（GRN），并确定了调节叶片形状的基因网络模块中的关键组分，如叶片-叶柄（BLADE-ON-PETIOLE， BOP）。在番茄、半夏葡萄和habrochaites中通过转基因实验改变BOP的表达，可以重建番茄物种复合体中自然发生的叶片表型。研究人员将确定BOP靶点，研究BOP共表达基因以整合三个物种之间的网络信息（目标1），检测不同物种GRN中基因之间的差异相互作用（目标2），并生成转录组并构建GRN以识别特定物种之间的GRN重新连接（目标3）。

Conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in land plants is the source of agricultural productivity. This process occurs in leaves but how different types of leaves differ in their ability to produce carbon compounds is not well understood. Nor do we understand how genes act and interact to produce leaves of different shapes and sizes. This project will utilize analysis of how genes are regulated to generate gene products that interact to create cascades of effects eventually leading to the formation of different forms of leaves. This understanding will allow us to manipulate gene expression to generate more efficient leaf forms. This project will also disseminate knowledge of gene regulation and leaf function, and provide hands on research experience to high school students from a predominantly Hispanic school district.How morphological diversity has arisen is a key question in biology. Angiosperms exhibit a great diversity in leaf shape and leaf development has been characterized in several species, making leaves ideal targets to understand the mechanism behind morphological natural variation. Leaves are also functionally significant for generating biomass and leading to agricultural yield. This research is based upon a deduced gene co-expression network underlying leaf development in tomato and its relatives. Molecular experiments and hypothesis testing validated the bioinformatically predicted gene regulatory network (GRN) and identified key components, such as BLADE-ON-PETIOLE (BOP), within the gene network module regulating leaf shape. Alteration in BOP expression by transgenic experiments in tomato, S. pennellii and S. habrochaites, can recreate naturally occurring leaf phenotypes in the tomato species complex. The investigators will identify BOP targets, look at BOP co-expressed genes to integrate network information across three species (Aim 1), detect differential interactions (DiffCorr) between genes in the GRN across species (Aim 2), and generate transcriptomes and build GRNs to identify GRN rewiring across selected eudicots (Aim 3).