RUI: Cell Wall Associated Protein Kinases

植物细胞的形状和大小可以由多种遗传和环境因素决定，并且涉及细胞膨压与周围细胞壁或细胞外基质的调节性松弛之间的相互作用。糖代谢、吸收和运输的调节在这些生长过程中也起着核心作用。 该项目涉及拟南芥受体样蛋白激酶，细胞壁相关激酶（WAKs），与果胶连接，是细胞扩增所需的。WAK附着在细胞壁中的果胶上可能是导致液泡转化酶调节的机制的一部分，这反过来又会影响膨压，从而影响细胞扩张。WAK的突变导致细胞扩增的损失，并且在wak 2 -1突变等位基因中，导致液泡中转化酶活性的降低。在拟南芥基因组中有五个WAK，并且已经确定WAK 2是细胞伸长和溶质代谢所必需的。这些实验将探索另外两种WAK，WAK 1和WAK 4，它们负责拟南芥中大部分剩余的WAK活性，是否发挥同样的作用。WAK 1和WAK 4的突变表型将通过确定是否像wak 2 -1一样，生长需要糖和盐来探索。将使用显微镜分析来确定突变是否影响细胞伸长。将测量调节溶质代谢的关键酶的酶活性和mRNA水平，以确定wak 1和wak 4等位基因是否具有与wak 2 -1突变相同的影响。因此，将确定其他WAK家族成员在细胞扩增和植物发育中是否具有相似或不同的作用。 这些研究将探索细胞中决定其形状和大小的基本事件，从而决定植物的结构和功能。 这项研究将在小型文理学院进行，本科生将获得科学的综合方法，并为毕业后研究生和专业学校的挑战做好准备。

The shape and size of a plant cell can be determined by a variety of genetic and environmental factors, and involves an interplay between cell turgor and a regulated loosening of the surrounding cell wall or extracellular matrix. The regulation of sugar metabolism, uptake and transport also plays a central role in these growth processes. This project involves Arabidopsis receptor like protein kinases, the cell Wall Associated Kinases (WAKs), that are linked to pectin and are required for cell expansion. WAK attachment to pectin in the cell wall may be part of a mechanism that leads to the regulation of vacuolar invertase, and this in turn could influence turgor and hence cell expansion. Mutations in WAKs lead to a loss of cell expansion and in a wak2-1 mutant allele, a reduction of invertase activity in the vacuole. There are five WAKs in the Arabidopsis genome, and it has already been established that WAK2 is required for cell elongation and solute metabolism. The experiments will explore whether two other WAKs, WAK1 and WAK4 which are responsible for most of the remaining WAK activity in Arabidopsis, play the same role. The phenotypes of mutations in WAK1 and 4 will be explored by determining whether, like wak2-1, both sugars and salts are required for growth. A microscopic analysis will be used to determine if the mutations affect cell elongation. Enzyme activity and mRNA levels for key enzymes regulating solute metabolism will be measured to determine if the wak1 and wak4 alleles have the same affect as does the wak2-1 mutation. Thus it will be established whether other WAK family members have similar or distinct roles in cell expansion and plant development. These studies will explore fundamental events in cells that determine their shape and size, and thus architecture and function of plants. The research will be carried out at small liberal arts college, where undergraduate students will be provided with an integrative approach to science, and be prepared for the challenges of graduate and professional schools upon graduation.