Analysis of TCP transcription factors and downstream regulatory networks in the basal land plant Marchantia polymorpha

拟南芥TCP基因是调控细胞分裂过程并由此塑造植物结构的转录因子。最近，在信号传导过程和植物免疫中的进一步功能被报道。然而，关于它们的各种活动的演变的知识是缺乏的。陆生植物多形地药（Marchantia polymorpha）是一种苔类植物，在系统发育上具有重要的、信息丰富的地位。Marchantia是一种新的遗传模式生物，几乎包含所有的基因家族，但基因数量较少。在拟南芥中存在21个TCP基因，而在马香迪亚中只有2个，避免了已知的基因冗余效应阻碍其他TCP功能分析。这个项目的目标是通过分析敲除和敲除突变体来揭示TCP的功能。下游调控网络将被确定，选定的靶基因将进一步表征。系统发育重建将揭示TCP基因的进化，并能够识别有趣的动机和氨基酸。这些分析旨在与植物TCP基因进行比较研究，以了解其功能的分子进化，以及它们如何促进日益复杂的陆地植物的形成。

Arabidopsis thaliana TCP genes are transcription factors that regulate cell division processes and shape thereby the plant architecture. Recently, further functions in signaling processes and plant immunity have been reported. However, knowledge about the evolution of their divers activities is lacking. The basal land plant Marchantia polymorpha is a liverwort with a crucial, informative phylogenetic position. Marchantia has been established as a novel genetic model organism and comprises almost all gene families, however with low gene numbers. 21 TCP genes exist in Arabidopsis and only two in Marchantia, avoiding gene redundancy effects known to hamper other functional TCP analyses. The goal of this project is to unravel the TCP functions by analyzing knockout and knockdown mutants. Downstream regulatory networks will be identified and selected target genes will be further characterized. Phylogeny reconstructions will shed light on the evolution of TCP genes and enable to identify interesting motives and amino acids. These analyses aim to conduct comparative studies with eudicot TCP genes to understand the molecular evolution of their functions and how they contributed to the formation of increasingly complex land plants.