Bilateral NSF/BIO-BBSRC: Unravelling the Grass Leaf

双边 NSF/BIO-BBSRC：揭开草叶的面纱

• 批准号: BB/M023117/1
• 负责人: Enrico Coen
• 金额: $ 117.66万
• 依托单位: John Innes Centre
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM023117%2F1
• 关键词: Bilateral; NSF; BIO; BBSRC; Unravelling

Flowering plants exhibit two major growth strategies. The dicot strategy is for the growing tip of the plant to climb upward by producing an elongating stem below it. Leaf buds are also generated at the growing tip and eventually these grow out from the stem to form fully grown leaves. The monocot strategy is for the growing tip to stay protected at the base of the plant and produce a series of concentric leaves that rise above it. Leaf blades emerge and bend outwards at the top of the concentric cylinder or leaf bases. Only at later stages does the growing tip itself rise upwards through elongation of the stem to produce the flowering structures. This monocot strategy has the advantage of protecting the growing tip at the base of the plant for much of its life history. It enables grasses to survive extensive grazing and is the growth strategy that underlies cereals like wheat, maize and rice.Despite its ecological and agronomic importance, the monocot strategy is much less well understood than the dicot strategy. In particular, it is unclear how monocot leaf buds grow to form concentric cylinders topped by outwardly bending blades. By using computational modelling we have developed some preliminary hypotheses for how this might work. A key idea is that growth is oriented by a polarity field; analogous to the way a magnetic field can be used to orient directions of navigation. The observed growth and shape changes of the monocot leaf can then be explained by simple changes in the polarity field and pattern of growth rates it orients. The main aim of this proposal is to test and further build upon this model to determine whether the fields and rates of growth it predicts are correct or not. This will be achieved using the maize monocot system which has the advantage of having well developed genetics and associated technologies. By looking at markers that highlight the presumed polarity fields and determining the growth rates in different regions of the leaf we hope to test predictions of the model. Models will also be tested by analysing the mutants in which key transitions of development are disrupted. These studies will be made quantitative by writing computer programs that extract the relevant measures automatically. New computational methods will also be developed and applied to this system so that the processes can be understood at different levels, from cellular to tissue scale.This type of study, which integrates computational and experimental approaches, should provide a rigorous and quantitative understanding of the mysteries behind the monocot growth strategy. The understanding it generates may also allow us to further modulate the shape and disposition of leaves in crops. The angle at which the leaf blade bends out, for example, depends on growth at the blade junction, and has an important effect on yield because it influences the amount of light that can be harvested for photosynthesis. Knowing how this process works and is controlled by genes may therefore help breeders improve crop performance.

开花植物表现出两种主要的生长策略。双子叶植物的策略是通过在植物的生长顶端下方产生一根细长的茎来向上攀升。叶芽也在生长的顶端产生，最终从茎中长出，形成完全长成的叶子。单子叶植物的策略是将生长的顶端保护在植物的底部，并产生一系列高于它的同心叶。叶片在同心圆柱体或叶基的顶部出现并向外弯曲。只有在后期，生长的顶端才通过茎的伸长向上上升，形成开花的结构。这种单子叶策略的优点是，在植物生命历史的大部分时间里，保护植物底部的生长尖端。它使牧草能够在大范围的放牧中生存下来，是小麦、玉米和水稻等谷物的生长策略。尽管单子叶策略在生态和农学上具有重要意义，但人们对单子叶策略的了解远远低于双子叶策略。特别是，单子叶叶芽是如何生长形成同心圆柱体的，上面有向外弯曲的叶片，目前还不清楚。通过使用计算模型，我们已经开发了一些关于这可能如何工作的初步假设。一个关键的想法是，生长是由极场来定向的；类似于磁场可以用来确定导航方向的方式。观察到的单子叶的生长和形状变化可以用它所取向的极场和生长速率模式的简单变化来解释。这项提议的主要目的是测试并进一步建立这一模型，以确定其预测的领域和增长率是否正确。这将使用玉米单子叶系统来实现，该系统具有发达的遗传学和相关技术的优势。通过观察突出推测的极性区域的标记，并确定叶片不同区域的生长速度，我们希望测试该模型的预测。模型还将通过分析突变来测试，在突变中，关键的发育转变被打乱。这些研究将通过编写自动提取相关措施的计算机程序来实现量化。还将开发新的计算方法并将其应用于该系统，以便从细胞到组织规模的不同水平上了解这些过程。这种将计算和实验方法相结合的研究类型应该能够对单子叶植物生长策略背后的奥秘提供严格和定量的理解。它所产生的理解也可能使我们能够进一步调节作物叶片的形状和分布。例如，叶片弯曲的角度取决于叶片连接处的生长，并对产量有重要影响，因为它影响光合作用所能获得的光量。因此，了解这一过程是如何工作的，并受基因控制，可能会帮助育种者改善作物表现。

项目成果

Engaging new audiences with imaging and microscopy

通过成像和显微镜吸引新受众

• DOI: 10.1242/dev.199942
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Development
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Barresi, Michael J.;Coen, Enrico;Kugler, Elisabeth;Shuda, Jamie;Sung, Derek C.
• 通讯作者: Sung, Derek C.

Spatiotemporal coordination of cell division and growth during organ morphogenesis.

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2005952
• 发表时间: 2018-11
• 期刊: PLoS biology
• 影响因子: 9.8
• 作者: Fox S;Southam P;Pantin F;Kennaway R;Robinson S;Castorina G;Sánchez-Corrales YE;Sablowski R;Chan J;Grieneisen V;Marée AFM;Bangham JA;Coen E
• 通讯作者: Coen E

Shaping of a three-dimensional carnivorous trap through modulation of a planar growth mechanism

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000427
• 发表时间: 2019-10-01
• 期刊: PLOS BIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 9.8
• 作者: Lee, Karen J. I.;Bushell, Claire;Coen, Enrico
• 通讯作者: Coen, Enrico

Macro optical projection tomography for large scale 3D imaging of plant structures and gene activity.

• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erw452
• 发表时间: 2017-01-01
• 期刊: Journal of experimental botany
• 影响因子: 6.9
• 作者: Lee KJI;Calder GM;Hindle CR;Newman JL;Robinson SN;Avondo JJHY;Coen ES
• 通讯作者: Coen ES