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Collaborative Research: Mechanisms and Manipulation of Maize Meristem Size

合作研究：玉米分生组织大小的机制和调控

基本信息

批准号：
2026561
负责人：
Andrea Gallavotti
金额：
$ 113.23万
依托单位：
Rutgers University New Brunswick
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-09-01 至 2025-08-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2026561&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Mechanisms Manipulation Maize

项目摘要

The regulation of the size of meristems, groups of plant stem cells, plays an important role in plant development and crop productivity. Increases in meristem size achieved during the domestication of several crop species resulted in bigger fruits and inflorescences, and continue to offer great potential to increase yield. This proposal will provide a thorough understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms essential for increasing ear size in maize, a major crop worldwide, that can potentially translate to increased yields in commercial hybrids. The research will be integrated with active scientific training of high school students, and with a new research-based teaching module that combines classic genetic analysis with translational research tailored to graduate students. At the heart of the regulatory network controlling meristem size is the transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS). WUSCHEL function has been proposed to have diversified between monocot and eudicot species. In maize, however, WUS function has yet to be explored, despite its importance in plant development and its recent use in plant transformation technologies. The proposed research will reveal the function of duplicated WUS genes in maize and their role as transcriptional repressors by combining genetic analysis and transgenic approaches with single cell transcriptomics of maize inflorescences. This work aims to uncover key mechanistic details of meristem size regulation in maize and monocots in general, answering long-standing questions regarding evolutionary conservation or diversification of WUS function, and to reveal new regulatory targets that could be genetically manipulated to increase maize yield and improve transformation efficiency.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.

分生组织是一组植物干细胞，分生组织大小的调节在植物发育和作物生产力中发挥着重要作用。在几个作物品种的驯化过程中，分生组织大小的增加导致了更大的果实和花序，并继续提供了巨大的增产潜力。这项提议将提供对增加玉米穗大小所必需的遗传和分子机制的透彻理解，玉米是世界上的一种主要作物，可能转化为商业杂交种的增产。这项研究将与对高中生的积极科学培训相结合，并与一个新的研究型教学模式相结合，该模式将经典基因分析与为研究生量身定做的翻译研究相结合。控制分生组织大小的调控网络的核心是转录因子WUSCHEL(WUS)。WUSCHEL的功能在单子叶植物和裸子叶植物之间存在多样性。然而，在玉米中，尽管WUS在植物发育中的重要性以及最近在植物转化技术中的应用，WUS的功能仍有待探索。这项研究将结合遗传分析和转基因技术，结合玉米花序的单细胞转录，揭示玉米中复制的WUS基因的功能及其作为转录抑制因子的作用。这项工作旨在揭示玉米和一般单子叶植物分生组织大小调控的关键机制细节，回答长期存在的关于进化保护或WUS功能多样化的问题，并揭示可以通过遗传操作来增加玉米产量和改善转化效率的新调控目标。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。