13 ERA-CAPS The role of the N-end rule pathway in controlling plant response to the environment

为了应对气候变化增加农业环境不确定性的影响，操纵植物以在不可预测的生长条件下提供产量稳定性将是至关重要的。通过蛋白水解法选择性和有条件地去除调节蛋白正成为植物的一项主要调控原则。N-环境计划的目的是对靶向蛋白分解的N-端规则通路在控制植物对环境的反应中的作用提供一个完整的机械性理解。为了实现这一目标，选择了代表国际领先的欧洲团队的财团合作伙伴，这些团队在途径的多个方面都有经验，包括途径的生化基础、低氧和植物发育、应激的转录调控和代谢信号。该项目将汇集四个机构的六个研究小组，在基础分子植物科学、生物化学和化学方面具有互补的专业知识。N-环境联盟的研究方案将通过四个联盟伙伴开展的六个相互关联的一揽子工作计划来实现(三个工作包由电子逆向拍卖资助，一个联合实验室提供资金)。这些网络工作包的目标与三个基本问题有关，这些问题是在整合了联盟成员最近发现的靶向蛋白分解的N-端规则途径作为植物发育和对环境反应的主要调节因子的作用后产生的。问题1：N末端规则途径的蛋白质底物和酶成分是什么？问题2：Nendrule通路是如何整合到细胞信号通路中的？问题3：N末端调节通路在植物对生物和非生物环境的反应中的作用有多大？这项拟议的研究具有极具创新性的可测量成果，涉及到这一新发现的植物生物学领域，并将揭示：调节蛋白质稳定性的新机制，环境胁迫感应的新机制，蛋白质在胁迫感应中的新功能，以及欧盟关键作物番茄的重要性。这一快速发展的植物分子科学领域是由环境成员(包括底物的发现、进入N端规则通道的方法、途径的生化成分)引领的，再加上联盟内大量独特资源的可获得性，使得N环境建议非常新颖和及时。这一合作方案的协同价值将是开发和开发一个对农业至关重要的高度新颖的植物生物学领域，欧洲有能力通过为ERA-CAPS提供资金在这一领域引领世界。

Manipulation of plants to provide stability of yield under unpredictable growth conditions will beessential to respond to the effect of climate change in increasing the uncertainty of the agriculturalenvironment. Selective and conditional removal of regulator proteins by proteolysis is emerging as amajor regulatory principle in plants. The aim of the N-vironment project is to provide a completemechanistic understanding of the role of the N-end rule pathway of targeted proteolysis incontrolling plant responses to the environment. To achieve this goal consortium partners have beenselected that represent internationally leading European teams with experience in the pathwaysmultiple facets, including the biochemical basis of the pathway, hypoxia and plant development,transcriptional regulation of stress and metabolic signalling. The project will bring together sixresearch groups with complementary expertise in fundamental molecular plant science,biochemistry and chemistry, in four institutions. The research programme of the N-vironmentconsortium will be achieved through six inter-related Work Packages carried out by the fourconsortium partners (three funded by ERA-CAPS, one associated laboratory). The objectives of thesework packages are related to three fundamental questions that arose after integration of the recentdiscoveries by consortium members of the role of the N-end rule pathway of targeted proteolysis as amajor regulator of plant development and response to the environment. Question 1: What are theprotein substrates and enzymatic components of the N-end rule pathway? Question 2: How is the Nendrule pathway integrated into cellular signaling pathways? Question 3: What is the extent of therole of the N-end rule pathway in plant response to the biotic and abiotic environment? The proposedresearch has highly innovative measurable outcomes that address this newly discovered area of plantbiology, and will uncover: New mechanisms regulating protein stability, new mechanisms ofenvironmental stress sensing, new functions for proteins in stress sensing, the importance of theN-end rule in a key EU crop, tomato. This fast-developing area of plant molecular science is led byN-vironment members (including discovery of substrates, methods of entry into the N-end rulepathway, biochemical components of the pathway), and together with the availability of a largenumber of unique resources within the consortium, makes the N-vironment proposal highly novel andtimely. The synergistic value of this collaborative programme will be the development andexploitation of a highly novel area of plant biology of key importance to agriculture, in which Europehas the capacity to take a world lead through ERA-CAPS funding.