花瓣是研究细胞极性生长和器官形态建成的理想模式系统。细胞骨架在植物细胞极性生长和器官形态建成过程中起重要作用。已有的研究表明，微管切割蛋白Katanin P60(KTN1)在细胞骨架组织、叶表皮细胞嵌合生长以及叶片形态建成中发挥重要作用。但是，KTN1在花瓣细胞极性生长和花瓣形态建成中的功能还不清楚。我们最近的研究表明，KTN1功能缺失影响了拟南芥花瓣近轴表皮细胞形态以及花瓣形态。本研究旨在此工作基础之上，通过比较野生型和KTN1缺失突变体花瓣表皮细胞中的微管排列情况，阐明微管细胞骨架排列与花瓣表皮细胞极性生长和花瓣形态建成的关系。另外，将分离与鉴定花瓣中调控KTN1活性的重要功能蛋白，进一步深入解析花瓣表皮细胞细胞骨架排列变化的分子机理。该研究不仅有助于进一步阐明KTN1介导的细胞骨架排列在不同类型器官细胞形态建成中的作用，还有助于理解花瓣细胞极性生长以及花瓣形态建成的分子机理。

Petal is an ideal model system for studying polar cell growth and organogenesis. Cytoskeleton plays an important role in polar cell growth and organogenesis. It has been demonstrated that the microtubule-severing protein, Katanin P60 (KTN1), functions in the regulation of microtubule organization, leaf pavement cell morphogenesis and leaf shape formation. However, the roles of KTN1 in petal epidermal cell morphogenesis and petal shape formation are unclear. Our recent study showed that KTN1 loss-of-function leads to defective petal adaxial epidermal cell shape and petal shape. Based on our previous results, we will compare microtubule organization patterns in petal epidermal cells of wild type and ktn1 mutant to illustrate the role of KTN1-mediated microtubule organization in the control of petal epidermal cell shape and petal shape. Furthermore, we will identify KTN1-interacting proteins and study their molecular roles. This study will not only investigate the role of KTN1-mediated microtubule organization in the regulation of epidermal cell patterns in specific plant tissues, but also make us better understand the molecular mechanisms of petal cell polarity and petal shape formation.