Regulation of Flower Maturation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

IOS-0744874, Regulation of flower maturation, PI Jason W. Reed, co-PI Punita NagpalFlowers are the reproductive structures of plants, and have both male and female parts that produce pollen and seeds. Male and female development in flowering plants must be coordinated in order for successful pollination and seed production to occur. This project is to study mechanisms of late flower development and pollination in the model plant Arabidopsis. Several regulators of gene expression are known that regulate flower opening and male and female reproductive competence. Two of these also regulate responses to the plant hormone auxin, suggesting that auxin may regulate flower maturation. The functions of hypothesized negative regulators of these proteins will be determined using genetic and molecular biology approaches. Downstream effectors of these transcription factors will be identified by analyzing global gene expression patterns. These studies will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of how late stages of flower development shortly before fertilization are regulated. It is likely that the mechanisms discovered will be applicable in other plants, and may therefore lead to greater understanding of mating systems in natural populations, and to practical applications such as in designing ways to reduce outcrossing of transgenic crops, or to optimize seed and fruit production. In addition, this work may also suggest the molecular basis for the closed florets of domesticated broccoli. In addition to this experimental part, the project will incorporate an educational component. A multimedia presentation on flower opening and pollination and how scientists study it will be designed, and presented to schoolchildren and the general public as part of the Science 360 program at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Morehead Center hosts 130,000 annual visitors and summer camp participants.