NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY22: Breaking the Symmetry: Dorsal-Ventral Domain Establishment in the Floral Meristem in Mimulus

2022 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：打破对称性：酸浆花分生组织中背腹域的建立

• 批准号: 2209220
• 负责人: Ya Min
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Min, Ya
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2209220&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY22

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Flowers that appear similar in shape in both the front and back of the flower are called bilaterally symmetrical. These shape of flower is one of the most common floral forms (e.g. orchids and legumes). During flowering plant evolution, there have been at least 130 independent transitions in to this form, and these transitions are associated with specialized flower-pollinator interactions and the rapid appearance of new plant species. The molecular mechanisms defining this flower arrangement, however, is poorly understood, mainly due to the lack of appropriate functional tools in most systems with bilaterally symmetric flowers. This project aims to address this fundamental question by employing a newly developed model system, the Great Purple Monkeyflower Mimulus lewisii. Results from this project will be important from both developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Moreover, this project will provide molecular lab training opportunities for undergraduate students, workshops and publications to disseminate resources developed for this flower to the broader scientific community, and outreach activities to local communities about the diversity and importance of flowering plants. Although it is well known that differential organ elaboration along the dorsal-ventral (D-V) axis in many taxa is controlled by a developmental program dependent on the CYCLOIDEA (CYC) gene, what establishes the D-V domains at the earliest developmental stage and what activates the expression of CYC specifically in the dorsal domain remain unknown. This project will focus on two M. lewisii mutants with altered CYC expression patterns and will use multiple approaches to characterize the underlying molecular pathways upstream of CYC, including using genetic crosses to dissect the genetic relationships among the key regulatory genes; high resolution live imaging to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of gene expression patterns; and co-immunoprecipitation to identify interacting protein partners and downstream target genes. Results from this project are not only significant for understanding how floral symmetry is established at the earliest developmental stages, but also crucial for understanding mechanisms underlying convergent evolution in floral forms.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.

该行动资助了2022财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。在花的前面和后面看起来形状相似的花被称为两侧对称。这些花的形状是最常见的花卉形式之一（例如兰花和豆类）。在开花植物的进化过程中，至少有130个独立的过渡到这种形式，这些过渡与专门的花-传粉者相互作用和新植物物种的快速出现有关。然而，定义这种花的排列的分子机制知之甚少，主要是由于在大多数具有双侧对称花的系统中缺乏适当的功能工具。本项目旨在解决这个基本问题，采用新开发的模型系统，大紫猴花Mimulus lewisii。从发展和进化的角度来看，这个项目的结果将是重要的。此外，该项目将为本科生提供分子实验室培训机会，研讨会和出版物，以向更广泛的科学界传播为这种花开发的资源，并向当地社区宣传开花植物的多样性和重要性。虽然众所周知，在许多分类群中，沿背腹（D-V）轴的分化器官发育沿着是由依赖于CYCLOIDEA（CYC）基因的发育程序控制的，但在最早的发育阶段是什么建立了D-V结构域，以及是什么激活了CYC特异性地在背域中的表达仍然未知。该项目将集中在两个M。lewisii突变体的CYC表达模式改变，并将使用多种方法来表征CYC上游的潜在分子途径，包括使用遗传杂交来剖析关键调控基因之间的遗传关系;高分辨率实时成像来揭示基因表达模式的时空动态;和免疫共沉淀来识别相互作用的蛋白质伴侣和下游靶基因。该项目的成果不仅对理解花的对称性在早期发育阶段是如何建立的具有重要意义，而且对理解花的形态趋同进化的机制也至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。