Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biosciences Related to the Environment for FY 1998

王志勇：本行动资助美国国家科学基金会1998年度环境相关生物科学博士后科研资助项目。该奖学金为研究员提供了一个获得博士学位之外的额外科学培训的机会，并在美国国家科学基金会生物科学理事会支持的任何生物学领域中，在分子、细胞、有机体、种群、群落和/或生态系统层面上，对生物与其环境之间相互作用的基本机制进行创新和富有想象力的研究。每项奖学金都支持一项由赞助科学家执行的研究和培训计划。该奖学金的研究和培训计划题为“油菜素内酯光调控植物发育的遗传和分子分析”。植物的许多发育过程受环境光照条件的调控；这种光线调节涉及到植物激素油菜素类固醇（BR）。介导BR反应的基因被分离出来，当它们被激活或突变时，可以补充由BR合成不足引起的发育缺陷，如det2突变体。BR的一个假定受体（BRI1）是一种膜结合受体激酶。与BRI1激酶相互作用或被BRI1激酶磷酸化的蛋白可能介导BR信号的转导。这些蛋白是用酵母双杂交或磷酸化克隆方法分离出来的。研究人员分析了光照处理对BRI1蛋白修饰和活性的影响，以确定BR是如何通过光照调控植物发育的。

Abstract DBI-9804234 Zhiyong Wang This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biosciences Related to the Environment for 1998. This fellowship provides an opportunity for the Fellow to gain additional scientific training beyond the doctoral degree and to pursue innovative and imaginative research into the fundamental mechanisms underlying the interactions between organisms and their environment at the molecular, cellular, organismal, population, community and/or ecosystem level in any area of biology supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation. Each fellowship supports a research and training plan to be carried out with a sponsoring scientist. The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled genetic and molecular analysis of brassinosteroid regulation of plant development by light. Many developmental processes of plants are regulated by the environmental light conditions; and this light regulation involves the phytohormone brassinosteroids (BR). Genes mediating the BR response are being isolated as those that, when activated or mutated, can complement the developmental defects caused by insufficient synthesis of BR, such as in the det2 mutant. A putative receptor of BR (BRI1) is a membrane bound receptor kinase. Proteins that interact with or are phosphorylated by the BRI1 kinase are likely to mediate the transduction of BR signals. These proteins are being isolated using the yeast two-hybrid or phosphorylation cloning methods. Effects of light treatment on the modification and activity of BRI1 protein are being analyzed to determine how BR mediates light regulation of plant development.