Regulation and Function of Plant Cold Shock Domain Proteins

建议的研究：近年来，在分子水平上了解植物如何适应低温胁迫方面取得了进展。 与对热休克的反应不同，原核生物和真核生物对低温胁迫的适应很少有相似之处。 已经在模式细菌大肠杆菌中广泛研究了蛋白质对低温胁迫的响应，并且其特征在于小分子量核酸结合蛋白（冷休克蛋白）的主要积累。 最近发现小麦和拟南芥都含有冷激响应结构域蛋白。 由于模式植物拟南芥的遗传和分子资源广泛，本项目旨在确定其四个单独的冷休克结构域蛋白的功能。 尽管冷休克结构域是已知的最高度保守的核酸结合结构域，但植物界中冷休克结构域蛋白的表征令人惊讶地稀少。 总的来说，该项目的结果将使研究人员能够提出植物冷休克结构域蛋白家族的功能作用，并进一步使他们能够确定植物冷休克结构域蛋白如何促进低温胁迫。 拟议研究的更广泛影响：拟议项目旨在教育本科生和研究生以及博士后研究员。 参与该项目将提供分子生物学、植物生理学、显微镜和蛋白质结构测定方面的培训。 此外，与日本科学家的国际合作项目将为学生提供与来自独特文化和科学氛围的科学家互动的机会。 由于植物中这种蛋白质家族的实验数据非常有限，因此存在着推进这一领域的巨大机会。 所有科学发现都将广泛传播给科学界和公众。 希望这个项目的结果可以导致对植物如何适应低温的更全面的研究。 累积起来，非生物胁迫，如极端温度、干旱和盐碱化，造成作物生产潜力的大幅降低。 在这些领域中的任何一个方面的进步都有可能对社会产生广泛的影响;例如延长生长季节和将生长区域扩大到更肥沃的土地。 希望从这项研究中获得的知识可以使我们更接近了解植物适应低温的复杂性。

Proposed Research:In recent years, advancements have been made to understand how plants adapt to low temperature stress on a molecular level. Unlike the responses to heat shock, very few similarities are known for the adaptation of prokaryotes and eukaryotes to low temperature stress. Prokaryotic response to low temperature stress has been extensively studied in the model bacterium Escherichia coli, and is characterized by the predominant accumulation of small molecular weight nucleic acid binding proteins (cold shock proteins). It was recently learned that both wheat and Arabidopsis contain cold-responsive cold shock domain proteins. Due to the wide availability of genetic and molecular resources for the model plant Arabidopsis, this project is designed to determine the function of its four individual cold shock domain proteins. Despite the fact that the cold shock domain is the most highly conserved nucleic acid binding domain known, the characterization of cold shock domain proteins in the Plant Kingdom is surprisingly sparse. Collectively, results from this project will allow the investigators to propose functional roles for the cold shock domain protein family in plants and will furthermore allow them to determine how plant cold shock domain proteins contribute to low temperature stress. Broader Impacts of Proposed Research:The proposed project is designed to educate undergraduate and graduate students and a post-doctoral fellow. Involvement in the project will provide training in molecular biology, plant physiology, microscopy and protein structural determination. In addition, the international collaborative project with Japanese scientists will offer the students opportunities to interact with scientists from a unique cultural and scientific atmosphere. Since there are very limited experimental data for this protein family in plants, a tremendous opportunity exists to advance this area. All scientific findings will be broadly disseminated to the scientific and public communities. It is hoped that results from this project may lead to a more comprehensive study of how plants adapt to low temperature. Cumulatively, abiotic stress such as temperature extremes, drought, and salinity account for a substantial reduction in the potential for crop productivity. Any advancement in one of these areas has the potential to have wide implications for society; such as the extension of growing seasons and expansion of growing regions into more fertile lands. It is hoped that knowledge gained from this study may lead us closer towards understanding the complexities of plant adaptation to low temperatures.