Molecular Regulation of Auxin Signaling in Plant Development

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Summary of the Proposal***Proteins are complex molecules that carry out a variety of important cellular functions that range from structure determination to the regulation of the cell's chemistry. It follows that the number of different types and amounts of proteins present in a cell at any given time are critical to defining the function of that cell - including their contribution to the tissues and organs that make up the 'body plan' of the organism of which they are a part. Proteins are coded or ‘expressed' by genes as the ‘dictionary' of life, and it is at the point of gene expression and protein synthesis that the cell can regulate expression of the many thousands of proteins that exist at any given time. But this complex repertoire of cellular proteins can also be regulated after they are synthesized - by a process of selected protein destruction as one aspect of the ability of cells to regulate their complement of proteins. Nowhere is this more evident than in plants, where the targeted protein degradation machinery is about 10x more complex than in humans. In this proposal, we seek to better understand the underlying mechanisms by which targeted protein destruction is regulated in plants. This foundational knowledge will have far-reaching impacts on our understanding of how plants develop and how they adapt to environmental challenges such as drought stress, cold adaptation and global warming.**