THE ROLE OF ETHYLENE IN THE PHOTOPERIODIC FLOWERING OF PHARBITIS NIL

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 决定何时开花是植物一生中必须做出的最重要的决定之一，了解植物如何做到这一点仍然是当今植物生物学家面临的最重要挑战之一。众所周知，许多植物开花响应于光周期（白天和黑夜的相对长度），八十多年来，研究人员一直专注于阐明光周期植物中启动开花的分子事件。在文献中，植物激素乙烯在这一过程中的作用仍然存在争议。本研究旨在探讨乙烯在短日照光周期植物牵牛花（Pharbitis nil Chois cv Violet）光周期开花反应中的作用。本研究的目的是（1）确定光周期是否调控了白对虾乙烯的产生;（2）研究光周期对乙烯生物合成的调控部位;（3）确定单独的乙烯是否能代替光周期诱导白对虾幼苗开花。这项工作的结果将进一步加深我们对植物光周期开花的理解，并可能揭示与生物钟缺陷有关的各种人类健康疾病。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Determining when to flower is one of the most important decisions a plant must make in its lifetime, and understanding the ways plants do this remains one of the most important challenges to plant biologists today. It is known that many plants flower in response to photoperiod (the relative length of day and night) and, for over eighty years, researchers have focused their attentions on elucidating the molecular events that initiate flowering in photoperiodic plants. In the literature, the role of the plant hormone ethylene in this process remains controversial. The research proposed here aims to explore the role of ethylene in the photoperiodic flowering response of the model short-day photoperiodic plant Pharbitis nil Chois cv Violet (Japanese morning glory). Objectives of this research are (1) to determine if ethylene production in P. nil is regulated by photoperiod, (2) to investigate the site of ethylene biosynthetic control in response to photoperiod, and (3) to determine if ethylene alone can induce flowering in P. nil seedlings in lieu of photoperiod. Results of this work will further our understanding of photoperiodic flowering in plants and may shed light on various human health disorders linked to defects in the circadian clock.