A Molecular Role for Plant LINC complexes in Pollen Tube and Guard Cell Function.

这个项目探索了一类新的植物蛋白质的功能，这些蛋白质位于植物细胞中细胞核的外围--遗传信息的中心。这些神秘的蛋白质复合体将细胞核内部与细胞质--围绕细胞核的细胞部分--联系在一起，对植物的许多功能都很重要。本项目将探索两个功能。首先，它们在花粉管中的作用，这对开花植物的受精和种子生产(谷物产量)是必不可少的。第二，保卫细胞，即控制植物叶片上气孔(气孔)的打开和关闭的细胞，它调节二氧化碳从空气中进入植物，以及水分(作为蒸汽)从植物叶片中流失到空气中。面对日益频繁的气候事件，如干旱、极端温度和地球大气中二氧化碳水平的上升，从空气中吸收二氧化碳和从植物中损失水分具有额外的意义。除了在细胞和分子生物学方面培训博士后科学家、研究生和本科生外，该项目还将启动和开发一个涉及ART的推广项目，以可视化研究的各个方面并向更广泛的公众展示它们。植物特有的核膜外膜蛋白(Kash蛋白)是与动物Kash蛋白功能相当的核骨架和细胞骨架(LINC)复合体的连接物。这个项目将剖析Kash蛋白如何在植物雄性育性和保卫细胞间隙调节中发挥作用。一个植物特有的LINC复合体需要通过花粉管移动营养核，它的破坏会影响花粉管的终止和雄性可育性。将确定这一新发现的过程与已知的花粉管功能信号通路的联系，包括ROS和钙信号；将应用数学模型来模拟营养核的运动和突变体造成的缺陷；将确定与LINC复合体相互作用并参与运动的马达蛋白。第二个植物特异性LINC复合体位于保卫细胞的细胞核，它的破坏改变了保卫细胞的非生物胁迫反应和保卫细胞的动力学。我们将剖析这种LINC复合体、保卫细胞皮质肌动蛋白模式、核钙信号和空泡形态之间的联系。此外，植物叶片的候选蛋白质将接受与植物LINC复合体的相互作用以及它们参与上述保卫细胞和花粉管生物学的测试。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project explores the function of a new class of plant proteins that are located at the periphery of the nucleus - the center of genetic information - in the plant cell. These enigmatic protein complexes connect the inside of the nucleus to the cytoplasm - the part of the cell that surrounds the nucleus - and are important for a number of plant functions. This project will explore two functions. First, their role in pollen tubes, which are essential for fertilization and seed production (grain yield) in flowering plants. And second, guard cells, the cells that control the opening and closing of apertures (stomata) in the leaf of the plant, which regulate the movement of carbon dioxide from the air into the plant, and the loss of water (as vapor) from plant leaves into the air. The uptake of carbon dioxide from the air and the loss of water from the plant are of added significance in the face of increasingly frequent climate events such as drought, temperature extremes and the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere. In addition to training postdoctoral scientists, and graduate and undergraduate students, in cell and molecular biology, the project will initiate and develop an outreach project involving art to visualize aspects of the research and present them to the broader public.Plant-specific outer nuclear envelope proteins (KASH proteins) are the functional equivalent of animal KASH proteins of the linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complexes. This project will dissect how KASH proteins function in plant male fertility and guard cell aperture regulation. One plant specific LINC complex is required to move the vegetative nucleus through the pollen tube and its disruption affects pollen tube termination and male fertility. The connection of this newly discovered process to known signaling pathways of pollen tube function, including ROS and calcium signaling, will be determined; mathematical modeling will be applied to simulate the movement of the vegetative nucleus and the defects caused by the mutants; and motor proteins will be identified that interact with the LINC complex and are involved in the movement. A second plant-specific LINC complex is located at the nucleus of guard cells and its disruption changes guard cell abiotic stress response, and guard cell dynamics. The connection between this LINC complex, guard cell cortical actin patterns, nuclear calcium signaling, and vacuolar morphology will be dissected. In addition, candidate proteins for a plant lamina will be tested for interactions with the plant LINC complexes and for their involvement in the guard cell and pollen tube biology described above.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.