Functional Genomics of Nectar Production in Brassicaceae

在许多植物家族中，一种被称为花蜜腺的器官负责产生花蜜。尽管它在植物授粉中起着核心作用，但人们对花蜜合成和分泌的分子机制知之甚少。事实上，没有任何基因被证明直接影响花蜜的产量或质量。该项目的总体目标是确定在农业上重要的十字花科植物中生产花蜜所需的关键基因和细胞过程。在以前的研究中，来自模式植物拟南芥的70个基因在蜜腺中的表达水平比在所有其他组织中高出10倍以上。这些基因在花蜜生产中的作用将通过基因敲除和过表达研究在拟南芥和油菜中系统地研究。突变植株将受到彻底的表型特征的影响，包括蜜腺形态和超微结构的评估，蜜腺内基因表达的全球变化，以及对蜜腺体积和组成的整体影响。预计这些研究将为植物产生花蜜所需的基因和途径提供新的见解。更广泛的IMPACTS确定花蜜生产的分子基础可以对美国农业产生巨大影响，从增加广泛的传粉者依赖的作物物种的产量到有针对性地改进养蜂业。仅在美国，每年就种植大约150万英亩的油菜和相关的油料作物。值得注意的是，白菜几乎完全依赖于传粉者的有效吸引来实现最大产量。事实上，糟糕的传粉者访问可能会使油菜种子和无关作物的产量减半。该项目的长期目标是阐明在农业上重要的十字花科植物中花蜜产生的潜在机制，以及如何将这种理解转化为多种作物的更高产量。此外，该项目将为明尼苏达大学德卢斯分校的大量本科生提供重要的研究经验和教育机会，明尼苏达大学德卢斯分校主要是一所本科院校。有关该项目的详细说明和结果，请访问http://www.d.umn.edu/~cjcarter/carterlab.html.。微阵列数据将存放在GEO，基因注释将存放在TAIR，代谢组学数据将整合到爱荷华州立大学(http://www.plantmetabolomics.org).)开发的代谢组学数据库中种子库存将通过该项目和abrc(http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/Facilities/abrc/index.html).获得。

An organ known as the floral nectary is responsible for producing nectar in many plant families. Despite its central role in plant pollination, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms of nectar synthesis and secretion. Indeed, no genes have been shown to directly affect the production or quality of floral nectar. The overall goal of this project is to identify key genes and cellular processes required for nectar production in the agriculturally important Brassicaceae family. In previous studies, seventy genes from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana were shown to be expressed at greater than 10-fold higher levels in nectaries than in all other tissues examined. The roles these genes play in nectar production will be systematically examined in both Arabidopsis and Brassica rapa (oilseed rape) through gene knockout and overexpression studies. Mutant plants will be subjected to thorough phenotypic characterization that includes evaluation of nectary morphology and ultrastructure, global changes in gene expression within nectaries, and overall impacts on nectar volume and composition. It is expected that these studies will provide new insight into the genes and pathways required for nectar production in plants. BROADER IMPACTSDetermining the molecular basis of nectar production can have enormous impacts on U.S. agriculture, ranging from increasing yields in a wide range of pollinator-dependent crop species to targeted improvements of apiculture. Each year approximately 1.5 million acres of Brassica rapa and related oilseed crops are planted in the U.S. alone. Significantly, B. rapa is almost entirely dependent on the efficient attraction of pollinators to achieve maximal yields. Indeed, poor pollinator visitation can cut yields of Brassica oilseed, as well as unrelated crop species, in half. The long term goals of this project are to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of nectar production in the agriculturally important Brassicaceae family, and how this understanding can be translated into higher yields in multiple crop species. In addition, this project will provide significant research experiences and educational opportunities to a large number of undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota - Duluth, a primarily undergraduate institution. A detailed description and results derived from this project can be readily viewed at http://www.d.umn.edu/~cjcarter/carterlab.html. Microarray data will be deposited at GEO, gene annotations at TAIR, and metabolomics data will be integrated into the metabolomics database developed at Iowa State University (http://www.plantmetabolomics.org). Seed stocks will be available through the project and through the ABRC (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/Facilities/abrc/index.html).