The Roles of GL1 and TTG in the Trichome Development Pathway

9506192标记对控制植物细胞命运的机制知之甚少。拟南芥植物叶片上毛发(称为毛状体)的发育正被用作研究植物细胞命运的模型。叶表皮细胞进入毛状体发育途径所需的两个基因是TTG和GL1。这些基因的突变导致毛状体起始的丧失。这两个基因都被认为是转录因子，调节毛状体形态发生所需的其他基因。这一建议将进一步研究GL1在毛状体发育中的作用，并将其特征扩展到TTG基因。拟议的实验将提供有关GL1和TTG如何调控的信息，并将识别由GL1和TTG调控的基因。这项工作的预期意义是双重的。首先，它为研究植物中的细胞命运提供了一个方便的系统。其次，Trichome的发展提供了一个实用的模式。许多植物物种上的毛状体是植物与恶劣环境之间的屏障。许多农作物，如油菜籽，缺乏保护毛状体。控制拟南芥植物上毛状体的形态、密度和位置的能力正在迅速进化。希望所学到的关于拟南芥的信息可以应用于十字花科植物和其他作物。***

9506192 Marks Very little is known about the mechanisms that control cell fate in plants. The development of hairs (called trichomes) on the leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana plants is being used as a model to study cell fate in plants. Two genes that are required for the commitment of leaf epidermal cells to enter the trichome developmental pathway are TTG and GL1. Mutations in these genes results in a loss of trichome initiation. Both of these genes are thought to function as transcription factors that regulate other genes required for trichome morphogenesis. This proposal will further the study of the role of GL1 in trichome development and also extend the characterization to the TTG gene. The proposed experiments will provide information on how GL1 and TTG are regulated and will identify genes that are regulated by GL1 and TTG. The expected significance of this work is tow fold. first, it provides a convenient system to study cell fate in plants. Second, trichome developments provides a practical model. Trichomes on many plant species serve as a barrier between the plant and a hostile environment. many crop plants such as Canola lack protective trichomes. The ability to manipulate the morphology, density and placement of trichomes on Arabidopsis plants is rapidly evolving. It is hoped that the information learned about Arabidopsis can be applied to Brassica species and other crop plants. ***