SGER: Identifying the plant InsP3 receptor using calcium sensors

植物在生长和发育过程中整合来自生理和环境信号的信息。 已经进化为响应这些信号而产生适当细胞反应的调节网络通常包括细胞内钙的瞬时增加，其将感测到的信号转导到解释刺激的分子。 细胞内钙的这种变化通过蛋白质的组合活性发生，这些蛋白质在感知信号后允许钙进入细胞质，并且最终从细胞质中去除钙以恢复细胞内稳态。 拟议的研究重点是确定一种负责增加细胞质钙水平的蛋白质，以响应生理和环境线索。 在分子水平上鉴定这种蛋白质对于理解植物中钙信号的特异性以及最终设计改变植物生长和发育的策略将是至关重要的。

Plants integrate information from physiological and environmental signals during growth and development. The regulatory networks that have evolved to generate the appropriate cellular responses in answer to these signals often include a transient increase in intracellular calcium which transduces the sensed signal to the molecules that interpret the stimuli. This change in intracellular calcium takes place through the combined activities of proteins that allow calcium to enter the cytoplasm after perception of a signal and those that ultimately remove calcium from the cytoplasm to restore cellular homeostasis. The proposed studies are focused on identifying one of the proteins responsible for increasing cytoplasmic calcium levels in response to physiological and environmental cues. Identification of this protein at the molecular level will be critical for understanding the specificity of calcium signaling in plants and ultimately for designing strategies to modify plant growth and development.