Collaborative Research: RESEARCH-PGR: PlantTransform: The Genetic Basis of Maize Regeneration and Applications to Plant Transformation

植物的基因工程对于作物改良至关重要，并且需要从遗传修饰的细胞再生整个植物。虽然所有植物物种都具有从单细胞形成完整植物的遗传成分，但许多作物植物，包括玉米，从经过遗传修饰的细胞再生的能力有限。主基因被假设参与植物再生的过程。这与细胞增殖的能力密切相关，细胞增殖是细胞生长和增殖导致细胞数量增加的结果。在这个项目中，玉米基因负责控制细胞的生长和繁殖将被确定使用一种新的高通量筛选方法。调控玉米再生的关键候选基因有待进一步验证。该项目的主要目标是更好地了解植物再生的遗传基础，以改进基因工程策略。该项目将通过使用新的基因组编辑技术、大量数据和计算工具，提供分析和理解植物遗传学的新方法。它还将提供植物遗传学、基因组学、分子生物学、基因组编辑、生物信息学和机器学习等各个领域的培训机会。植物转化和再生是基因组工程的关键步骤。该提案的总体目标是提高我们对植物再生的遗传基础的理解。由于每个植物基因组具有形成完整植物的全能性组分，但许多作物物种的再生能力处于低水平，因此假设存在控制胚胎发生的全能性的保守主基因，并且另外的非保守基因解释了不同的再生能力，并且这些基因与细胞增殖和生长的能力相关。在该项目中，控制细胞增殖和生长的玉米基因将通过转录组基因网络分析、基因组比较、高通量CRISPR筛选和单个基因的功能验证来鉴定。该项目将为综合基因组分析和发现提供创新方法、海量数据和计算工具。该项目由生物科学理事会的植物基因组研究计划和刺激竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Genetic engineering of plants is critical for crop improvement and requires regeneration of whole plants from genetically modified cells. While all plant species possess genetic components to form whole plants from single cells, many crop plants, including maize, have a limited ability to regenerate from cells that are subjected to genetic modification. Master genes are hypothesized to be involved in the process of plant regeneration. This is strongly related to the ability of cell proliferation, an increase in the number of cells as a result of growing and multiplying of cells. In this project, maize genes responsible for controlling cell growth and multiplication will be identified using a novel high-throughput screening approach. Validating key candidate genes in regulating maize regeneration will be carried out through further testing. The primary goal of this project is to better understand the genetic basis of plant regeneration for improved genetic engineering strategies. This project will provide new ways of analyzing and understanding plant genetics through the use of new genome editing technologies, large amounts of data, and computational tools. It will also offer training opportunities in various fields such as plant genetics, genomics, molecular biology, genome editing, bioinformatics, and machine learning.Plant transformation and regeneration are key procedures of genome engineering. The overarching goal of this proposal is to improve our understanding of the genetic basis of plant regeneration. As each plant genome possesses totipotent components to form an entire plant but the capability to regenerate is at low levels in many crop species, it is hypothesized that conserved master genes for totipotency governing embryogenesis exist and that additional non-conserved genes account for differing regeneration ability, and these genes are associated with the ability of cell proliferation and growth. In this project, maize genes controlling cell proliferation and growth will be identified by conducting analysis of transcriptomic gene networks, genomic comparisons, high-throughput CRISPR screening, and functional validation of individual genes. The project will provide innovative approaches, massive data, and computational tools for integrative genomic analysis and discoveries. TThis project is jointly funded by the Plant Genome Research Program in the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.