RUI: The Function and Regulation of Invertase Inhibitors during Early Seed Development in Arabidopsis

种子是生产食品、饲料、能源和工业材料的主要可再生资源。适当的种子发育依赖于从母体植物输入的营养物质，以及在三个种子隔室（胚、胚乳和种皮）之间的适当营养分配。关于胚乳和胚之间的界面营养分配是如何调节的知之甚少。该项目将研究胚乳中表达的两个基因如何影响糖向胚运输的速率。该项目的成果将促进我们对控制种子大小的遗传机制的了解，这将适用于提高作物品种的产量和谷物质量。该项目将通过在非裔美国人女子文理学院整合研究和教学，提高研究能力，改善本科STEM教育。将招募本科生在PI的实验室进行独立研究。预计该项目将改善STEM学科招收少数族裔和女性学生的情况。众所周知，胚乳细胞化的时间影响胚的生长速率。然而，潜在的分子机制仍然在很大程度上未被探索。本项目将验证Polycomb Repressive Complex 2（PRC2）抑制转化酶抑制剂（InvINHs）基因的表达以调节胚乳和胚之间的糖分配的假设。具体的目的是通过遗传操作建立InvINHs和胚胎生长抑制之间的因果关系，并确定调控InvINHs表达的顺式元件和转录因子。预期所提出的活性将确定胚乳细胞化的主调节剂PRC2复合物如何通过抑制InvINH来调节胚和胚乳之间的营养分配。对这种联系的更深入理解将使我们能够进一步研究胚乳发育程序的修改如何塑造种子形态的进化。

Seed is a major renewable resource for the production of food, feed, energy, and industrial materials. Proper seed development relies on the nutrients imported from the maternal plant, as well as appropriate nutrient allocation among the three seed compartments, the embryo, the endosperm, and the seed coat. Very little is known about how nutrient allocation is regulated at the interface between the endosperm and the embryo. This project will investigate how two genes expressed in the endosperm influence the rate of sugar transport to the embryo. The outcome of the project will advance our knowledge on the genetic mechanisms that control seed size, which will be applicable to the improvement of yield and grain quality in crop species. This project will enhance research capacity and improve undergraduate STEM education through the integration of research and teaching at a women's liberal arts college for African Americans. Undergraduate students will be recruited to conduct independent research in the PI's lab. The project is expected to improve the recruitment of minority and women students into STEM disciplines. It is well known that the timing of endosperm cellularization affects embryo growth rate. However, the underlying molecular mechanism has remained largely unexplored. This project will test the hypothesis that the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) represses the expression of invertase inhibitor (InvINHs) genes to regulate sugar allocation between the endosperm and the embryo. The specific aims are to establish the causality between InvINHs and the suppression of embryo growth through genetic manipulation, and to identify the cis-elements and the transcription factors that regulate InvINHs expression. The proposed activity is expected to establish how a master regulator of endosperm cellularization, the PRC2 complex, regulates nutrient allocation between the embryo and the endosperm via the repression of InvINHs. A deeper understanding of this connection will allow us to further investigate how modifications in the endosperm developmental program have shaped the evolution of seed morphology.