Collaborative proposal: Regulation of pre-mRNA splicing by light signals

对光的感知是植物与环境相互作用的最基本方式之一，以改变生长并最大限度地捕获阳光。本项目将研究光敏色素光感受器感知的环境光信号如何调节基因表达，从而影响植物的生长和生产力。该项目将优先培训来自代表性不足群体的下一代科学家，他们将在开发农业生物技术新工具以改善粮食安全、人类健康和环境可持续性方面获得相当多的经验。教育工具包的开发和传播将大大扩大高中学生在科学研究方面的教育机会。在当地K-12学校的生物课上做演讲，不仅可以让年轻的学生了解转基因生物，还可以提高参与研究人员的沟通和教学技巧。这将使不同的K-12学生群体接触到现代化的研究设施，以有趣和吸引人的方式向他们介绍科学方法，并激励他们选择科学的职业道路。该项目将阐明知之甚少的机制，其中光敏色素调节基因表达在转录和转录后水平。选择性mRNA剪接是一个高度调控的过程，增强了基因组中编码mRNA的多样性。该小组先前的工作表明，这一过程受到光感受器光敏色素B （phyB）介导的光信号的影响，从而为植物快速响应光信号提供了一种新的机制。本项目将利用生物化学、分子、遗传学和基因组学等方法，揭示SFPS-RRC1-SWAP1多蛋白复合物剪接调控的详细生化机制，并研究phyB如何在光照下调控这一剪接过程。这一结果有望为植物中光照与选择性剪接之间的早期联系提供重要的新见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The perception of light is one of the most fundamental ways that plants interact with the environment to alter growth and maximize capture of sunlight. This project will address how environmental light signals perceived by the phytochrome photoreceptors regulate gene expression to affect plant growth and productivity. This project will train the next generation of scientists preferentially from underrepresented groups, who will gain considerable experience in developing new tools in agricultural biotechnology to improve food security, human health, and environmental sustainability. Development and dissemination of educational toolkits will greatly expand educational opportunities to high school students in scientific research. Presentations in biology classes of local K-12 schools will not only teach young students about genetically modified organisms, but also improve communication and teaching skills of participating researchers. This will expose a diverse group of K-12 students to a modern research facility, introduce them to the scientific method in a fun and engaging way and inspire them to choose a scientific career path. This project will elucidate poorly understood mechanisms by which phytochromes regulate gene expression at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Alternative mRNA splicing is a highly regulated process that enhances the diversity of mRNAs encoded in the genome. Previous work by this group showed that this process is affected by light signals mediated through the photoreceptor phytochrome B (phyB), thereby providing a novel mechanism by which plants can rapidly respond to light signals. This project will use biochemical, molecular, genetic, and genomic approaches to uncover the detailed biochemical mechanisms of regulation of splicing by the SFPS-RRC1-SWAP1 multi-protein complex and to investigate how phyB regulates this splicing process under light. The results are expected to provide important new insights on the early events linking light exposure to alternative splicing in plants.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.