玉米染色质重塑蛋白ZmCHB101调控耐旱机制研究

研究表明，表观遗传调控机制在植物非生物胁迫应答过程中起着重要的作用，并且研究干旱胁迫应答过程的表观遗传调控机制对作物遗传改良具有很大的应用潜力。ATP依赖的染色质重塑复合体可以通过调控DNA与转录调控元件的结合来参与多种生物学过程。然而，玉米染色质重塑因子是如何在分子水平上参与旱干胁迫诱导的基因转录调控尚缺乏研究。在前期工作中，我们成功地制备了玉米SWI/SNF染色质重塑复合体的核心亚基SWI3(ZmCHB101)的RNA干扰材料(RNAi)，并且检测到ZmCHB101-RNAi材料呈现出对干旱胁迫敏感的表型。本课题拟结合遗传学、基因组学和细胞生物学等实验手段，检测旱胁迫响应过程中ZmCHB101调控的下游基因转录组变化，分析干旱条件下ZmCHB101靶基因的核小体定位和组蛋白修饰变化，拟解析ZmCHB101在干旱胁迫响应基因转录调控过程中的分子机制。

Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms play essential roles in abiotic stress adaption processes. Understanding how epigenetic components participate in drought stress response is crucial for applying this knowledge to the genetic manipulation of crop plants. ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes play essential roles in regulating diverse biological processes by formulating a DNA template that is accessible to the general transcription apparatus. However, how maize ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers involve in response to drought stress remains unclear. In previous work, we successfully generated maize core component of SWI/SNF complex, SWI3(ZmCHB101), RNA interference (RNAi) transgenic plants, and identified that ZmCHB101-RNAi showed sensitive phenotypes compared to wild-type under drought stress. In this study, combining genetic, genomic and cell-based analyses, we sought to investigate the transcriptomic changes governed by ZmCHB101 under drought stress. Moreover, based on the results from transcriptomic analysis, we sought to examine nucleosome occupancy and different histone status of putative direct targets of ZmCHB101, thereby dissecting the molecular mechanisms of how ZmCHB101 plays a role under drought stress.