Messenger RNA Regulation During Oomycete Sexual Development

这项研究将分析真菌样微生物疫霉（Phytophthora infestans）的性循环，它是真核生物中较低级的卵菌群的一员。这一组包括许多物种，它们是极其重要的植物病原体，其中性孢子通常作为疾病流行的主要接种物。该项目解决的核心问题是如何调节性发育所需的基因和蛋白质的表达模式。将采用分子遗传和生化策略相结合的方法。这将包括对驱动交配特异性基因表达的启动子序列的分析；通过与启动子结合来调节基因的蛋白质；以及被认为通过结合特定的RNA转录物来控制信使RNA转化为蛋白质的蛋白质。因此，这项工作应该确定转录和转录后调控机制，这些机制对疫霉菌及其近亲性孢子的形成和/或萌发至关重要。这些发现将阐明这一鲜为人知但在经济上和环境上都很重要的生物群体的生物学特性，并有助于说明各种真核生物的调节机制是如何进化的。调节有性孢子发育的蛋白质也可以作为预防疾病的新策略的目标，例如通过使用阻断孢子形成的抑制剂。该项目的另一个重要目标是通过培养本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员来实现，从而帮助国家发展科学人才队伍。

This research will analyze the sexual cycle of the fungus-like microbe Phytophthora infestans, which is a member of the lower eukaryotic group known as oomycetes. This group includes many species that are extremely important plant pathogens, in which sexual spores commonly serve as the primary inoculum for disease epidemics. The central issue addressed by this project concerns how the expression patterns of genes and proteins needed for sexual development are regulated. A combination of molecular genetic and biochemical strategies will be employed. These will involve analyses of promoter sequences that drive the expression of mating-specific genes; of proteins that regulate the genes by binding to their promoters; and of proteins that are believed to control the translation of messenger RNA into protein by binding to specific RNA transcripts. This work should therefore identify both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that are essential for the formation and/or germination of sexual spores by Phytophthora and its relatives. Such findings will illuminate the biology of this little-understood but economically and environmentally important group of organisms, and help indicate how regulatory mechanisms have evolved in diverse eukaryotes. Proteins that regulate sexual spore development may also serve as targets for new strategies for preventing disease, for example by using inhibitors that block spore formation. Another important objective of this project will be fulfilled through its training of undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, thereby aiding in the development of a scientific workforce for the country.