独脚金内酯受体D14与共受体Max2复合体晶体结构研究

独脚金内酯（Strigolactone或SL）是一种重要的植物激素，具有诱导寄生植物种子自杀性萌发、调控植物的分枝（从而影响农作物的产量），促进植物与根固氮菌丝共生等生理功能的一种重要激素。独脚金内酯的信号通路主要由其受体D14与共受体Max2介导，但其机制未清楚。研究独脚金内酯受体与共受体的结构与功能与食品、能源及环境等影响人类健康的关键问题紧密相关。目前，全球人口约50%的疾病是由于仅食品不足而导致营养不良的后果。然而每年仅在非洲，亚洲和澳大利亚就有数万英亩的农作物因为寄生植物独脚金杂草而荒废。独脚金内酯生物学的研究，可以帮助解决部分如上问题，其机理研究已成植物科学的一大研究热点。本课题将致力于独脚金内酯受体与共受体结构生物学研究，着眼于解释独脚金内酯信号通路中受体与共受体蛋白复合体的晶体结构，为开发新型的除草剂提供结构基础。

Strigolactone(SL) is very important plant hormone and have a function in inducing suicidal germination of parasitic plant seeds, regulate plant branching and tillering to influence crop yield, interaction with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which facilitate the uptake of soil nutrients by plants, acting as root-derived signals for symbiotic.The signal of SL is induced by its receptor D14 and co-receptor Max2,but the mechanism is not clear as so far.The research of the structure and function of Strigolactone's receptor and co-recptor is closely relevant to critical issues that affect human health, including food, energy, and environment. For example, malnutrition alone due to food shortage contributes to more than 50% of human disease worldwide. Each year, thousands of acres of crops are planted throughout Africa, Asia and Australia only to be laid to waste by a parasitic plant called Striga. These global problems can be partly resolved through research and technology advances in plant sciences, particularly through research on biology of strigolactone, and it has become a hotspot of plant science. The objectives of this project are to unravel the structural and biochemical basis of the structure and function of Strigolactone's receptor and co-recptor.