Elucidating the OXI1 stress signalling network

阐明 OXI1 应激信号网络

• 批准号: BB/E00749X/1
• 负责人: Lee Sweetlove
• 金额: $ 16.77万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FE00749X%2F1
• 关键词: Elucidating; OXI1; stress; signalling; network

In common with us, plants utilise chemical compounds formed from oxygen, not for breathing but for an altogether different purpose. These highly-reactive compounds are know as 'reactive oxygen species' (ROS) and are produced for instance when a white blood cell finds a bacterium in the bloodstream. This initiates a series of events which allows the blood cell to kill the bacterium, and thus prevent spread of infection. The ROS are not themselves used to kill the bacterium, rather they 'turn on' processes in the blood cell which help it to kill the bacterium. Understandably there is a lot of excitement in the scientific world regarding this type of system, as an understanding of it could help with combating disease (some diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis occurs when cells in joints do not perform this function correctly). Recently it was found that the use of ROS in this way is not limited to human cells, and in fact plants utilise this mechanism also. Perhaps not surprisingly, one such instance is when plants are themselves attacked by bacteria and fungi. Plants do not have blood cells, so instead, produce chemicals which will kill the pathogen, and prevent spread of infection. We were interested in finding what the steps were leading from ROS to the management of plant disease in this way. A protein, called OXI1, was identified and was found to be involved in one such step. If this protein was removed from plants, they were no longer able to defend themselves properly from microbes attacking them. It was found that OXI1 worked by 'labelling' other proteins by adding a chemical 'tag' to them, namely phosphate. This is a common trick in cells, used to either make a protein work, or to stop in working i.e. to control its function. The research being proposed here seeks to identify exactly which proteins OXI1 'tags' and which ones it binds to do its work. In this way, the series of steps from ROS to combating plant disease can be discovered, and utilised to human benefit i.e. breeding crops with increased resistance to pests e.g. mildew.

与我们一样，植物利用氧气形成的化合物，不是为了呼吸，而是为了完全不同的目的。这些高活性化合物被称为“活性氧"（ROS），例如当白色血细胞在血液中发现细菌时就会产生。这引发了一系列事件，使血细胞杀死细菌，从而防止感染的传播。ROS本身并不用于杀死细菌，而是它们“打开”血细胞中的过程，帮助它杀死细菌。可以理解的是，科学界对这种类型的系统有很多兴奋之处，因为对它的理解可以帮助对抗疾病（一些疾病，如类风湿性关节炎，当关节中的细胞不能正确执行此功能时就会发生）。最近发现，以这种方式使用ROS并不限于人类细胞，事实上植物也利用这种机制。也许并不奇怪，其中一个例子是植物本身受到细菌和真菌的攻击。植物没有血细胞，因此，相反，产生的化学物质将杀死病原体，并防止感染的传播。我们有兴趣找到从ROS到植物病害管理的步骤。一种名为OXI1的蛋白质被鉴定出来，并被发现参与了这样一个步骤。如果这种蛋白质从植物中被去除，它们就不再能够适当地保护自己免受微生物的攻击。研究发现，OXI1通过添加化学“标签”（即磷酸盐）来“标记”其他蛋白质。这是细胞中常见的技巧，用于使蛋白质工作，或停止工作，即控制其功能。这里提出的研究旨在准确识别OXI1“标记”哪些蛋白质以及它结合哪些蛋白质来发挥作用。通过这种方式，可以发现从活性氧到对抗植物疾病的一系列步骤，并将其用于人类利益，即培育对害虫（例如霉菌）具有更高抗性的作物。