Molecular and genetic characterization of floral regulatory networks in maize

植物开花的原因是什么？近一个世纪以来，植物生物学家一直在试图回答这个问题，但直到最近，导致植物开花的信号的性质仍然是一个谜。早期研究的一个重要发现是，开花信号是在叶片中产生的，然后被长距离传输到植物的中心枝，在那里形成了真正的花。我的研究用分子生物学、生物化学和基因组学的现代工具解决了这个问题。我们研究的重点是玉米(玉米)中对开花至关重要的基因。具有该基因正常拷贝的玉米植株被称为INDETERMINATE1或ID1，在通常的时间开花，而携带缺陷ID1基因的突变玉米植株开花很晚，并产生具有多叶特征的花。我们克隆了ID1基因，并用分子遗传学技术对其进行了鉴定。DNA序列表明，ID1通过制造一种名为锌指的蛋白质来发挥作用，这种蛋白质是其他基因的主要调节器。换句话说，ID1通过开启或关闭其他基因而导致玉米开花。这反过来又会影响植物的生长和对环境的反应。这项提议有两个主要目标：1)识别受ID1基因控制的基因；2)识别与ID1蛋白物理上相互作用的其他蛋白质，以帮助其执行其功能。了解这一点将为植物在即将开花时发生的变化提供线索。最终，我们希望确定这些信号的生化成分，了解影响开花过程的代谢变化，并了解植物如何解释环境信号在正确的时间开花。发现ID1是如何工作的，将有助于更好地理解所有植物是如何控制它们的开花习性的。控制植物何时或是否开花的能力对农业至关重要，因为植物协调开花，以获得最佳的种子和果实生产。确定玉米等植物及其近亲，如水稻、小麦和甘蔗如何控制开花，将有助于提高这些重要农作物的生产力。

What causes plants to flower? Plant biologists have been trying to answer this question for nearly a century but, until recently, the nature of the signals that cause plants to flower remained a mystery. One important discovery of early research is that flowering signals are produced in the leaves and then transported a long distance to the central shoot of the plant, where the actual flowers are made. My research addresses this question with the modern tools of molecular biology, biochemistry and genomics. The focus of our research is gene from corn (maize) that is critically important for flowering. Maize plants with a normal copy of this gene, called INDETERMINATE1 or ID1, flower at the usual time, whereas mutant maize plants with a defective ID1 gene flower very late and produce flowers with leafy characteristics. We cloned the ID1 gene and characterized it using molecular genetic techniques. The DNA sequence suggests that ID1 acts by making a protein, called a zinc finger, which is a master regulator of other genes. In other words, ID1 causes flowering in corn by turning other genes 'on' or 'off'. This in turn will affect how the plant grows and responds to its environment. There are two main goals of this proposal: 1) to identify genes that are controlled by the ID1 gene, and 2) to identify other proteins that physically interact with the ID1 protein help it carry out its function. Knowing this will give clues about the changes that go on in the plant when flowering is about to occur. Ultimately we would like to identify the biochemical components of these signals, to understand the metabolic changes that affect the flowering process, and to understand how plants interpret environmental signals to flower at the correct time. Discovering how ID1 works will lead to a better understanding of how all plants control their flowering habits. The ability to control when, or if, a plant flowers is of vital importance to agriculture because plants coordinate flowering for optimal seed and fruit production. Determining how plants like maize, and its relatives such as rice, wheat and sugar cane, control flowering will help to improve the productivity of these vital crop plants.