Genetic Dissection of Calcium Oscillation-Controlled Cellular Responses

胞浆钙在动物和植物细胞中介导多种细胞过程，包括肌肉收缩、受精、细胞分裂、神经过程、代谢、细胞运动和基因表达。因此，适当控制胞质Ca 2+是至关重要的。 细胞溶质Ca 2+的协调调节通常以重复的Ca 2+瞬变或振荡的形式发生。 在气孔保卫细胞中，胞质Ca 2+振荡调节气孔的大小。 这些气孔对植物的生长和生存起着至关重要的作用，因为植物通过它们获得CO2进行光合作用。 此外，植物通过气孔损失95%以上的水分。 本研究以塔勒的保卫细胞为材料，探讨胞质Ca 2+振荡是如何特异性地调控气孔孔径大小的基因表达的。来自研究的发现将为胞质Ca 2+的作用提供新的见解，除了其在基础植物生物学中的重要性外，还有助于理解由于胞质Ca 2+失调引起的疾病发病机制的研究工作，并有助于增强耐旱性的植物的发展。 该项目将为一名博士后研究员和一名研究生提供研究培训。 它还将为两名或更多的本科生提供体验科学研究的机会。

Cytosolic calcium mediates diverse cellular processes in both animal and plant cells, including muscle contraction, fertilization, cell division, neural processes, metabolism, cell movement, and gene expression. Therefore, proper control of cytosolic Ca2+ is of prime importance. The orchestrated regulation of cytosolic Ca2+ often occurs as repetitive Ca2+ transients or oscillations. In stomatal guard cells, cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations regulate the size of stomatal pores. Such pores play an essential role for plant growth and survival because plants obtain CO2 for photosynthesis through them. Moreover, plants lose more than 95% of water through stomatal pores. In this project, using guard cells of thale cress, we will investigate how cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations specifically control gene expression to regulate stomatal pore size. Discoveries that come from the research will provide new insights into the role of cytosolic Ca2+, which, in addition to its importance in fundamental plant biology, could contribute to the research efforts of understanding the pathogenesis of diseases due to dysregulation of cytosolic Ca2+, and contribute to development of plants with enhanced drought tolerance. The project will provide research training for one postdoctoral fellow and a graduate student. It will also give two or more undergraduate students the opportunity to experience scientific research.