Analysis of the Autonomous Floral Induction Pathway

研究者：Richard Amasino NSF奖摘要-#0446440自主成花诱导途径的分析植物开花的起始是植物生命周期中的主要发育开关。大多数主要作物是一年生植物（开花，结籽，然后死亡的植物），对于一年生植物，开花的时间特别重要。 本计画将集中研究控制拟南芥开花时间的机制。 选择拟南芥是因为它具有允许在分子水平上理解开花方面取得快速进展的特征;特别是，它是一种具有相对快速的生命周期的小型植物，并且其基因组的DNA序列是可用的。 这些特征提供了一个模型系统，其中联合收割机遗传研究与开花相关基因及其编码蛋白质的鉴定相结合。 这项工作将为了解其他物种（如作物）的开花时间调控提供基础。例如，过早开花是许多作物中的一个问题，其中植物的叶子或根被收获。 在其他作物中，希望加速开花。这项工作可能会提供策略，以理想的方式操纵开花时间。该项目还将为研究生、本科生和K-12学生提供遗传学、生物化学和分子生物学方面的培训。

Investigator: Richard Amasino NSF Award Abstract - #0446440Analysis of the Autonomous Floral Induction PathwayThe initiation of flowering in plants is the major developmental switch in the plant life cycle. Most major crops are annual plants (plants that flower, set seed and then die), and for annuals the timing of flowering is particularly critical. This project will focus on investigating the mechanisms that control the timing of flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis was chosen because it has features that permit rapid progress to be made in understanding flowering at a molecular level; in particular, it is a small plant with a relatively rapid life cycle and the DNA sequence of its genome is available. These features provide a model system in which to combine genetic studies with the identification of the genes involved in flowering and the proteins they encode. This work will provide a foundation for understanding flowering-time regulation in other species such as crops. For example, premature flowering is a problem in many crops in which the leaves or roots of the plant are harvested. In other crops it is desirable to accelerate flowering. This work may provide strategies to manipulate flowering time in desirable ways. This project will also provide training in genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology for graduate, undergraduate and K-12 students.