Genetic dissection of signaling processes regulating response to elevated ambient temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana

全球气候变化总体上对生物多样性构成了重大威胁，就这一提议而言，特别是对植物生长和生产力构成了重大威胁。从农业的角度来看，由于全球变暖，作物产量预计将受到很大影响，而粮食生产需要大幅增加，以维持不断增长和要求更高的世界人口。基于这些预测，对环境温度升高在发育和生理水平上造成什么似乎有一个基本的理解是有用的。与同时在育种计划(开花时间等)中找到方法的各种其他领域一样，对热形态发生信号的遗传解剖的首选系统是植物模式生物拟南芥。我们在突变筛选中鉴定了几个突变体，它们在温暖诱导的生长反应中显示出缺陷。克隆了第一批基因并对其作用进行了表征，从而确定了热形态发生信号通路中的新角色。在这项建议中，我们的目标是a)确定该途径的其他新成分，b)阐明BZR1在这一过程中作用的分子机制的细节。作为该项目的成果，我们期望进一步促进对植物如何处理温度刺激的理解，并将其转化为生长反应。

Global climate change poses a significant threat to biodiversity in general, and with regard to this proposal especially to plant growth and productivity. From an agricultural point of view, crop performance is predicted to suffer greatly due to global warming, while food production is required to increase significantly to sustain a growing and more demanding world population. Based on these predictions, it seems useful to generate a basic understanding of what increased ambient temperatures cause on a developmental and physiological level. As in various other fields that have meanwhile found their way into breeding programs (flowering time, etc.), the preferred system for genetic dissection of thermomorphogenesis signaling is the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified several mutants in a mutagenesis screen that show defects in warmth-induced growth responses. Cloning of the first genes and characterization of their role has identified new players in the thermomorphogenesis signaling pathway. In this proposal, we aim to a) identify additional novel components of this pathway, and b) elucidate the details of the molecular mechanism of BZR1 function in this process. As an outcome of this project, we anticipate to further advance the understanding of how plants process temperature stimuli and translate them into growth responses.