CAREER: Characterization of new Arabidopsis mutants with altered response to auxin

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。当今世界面临的一些主要挑战是如何养活不断增长的人口并找到应对全球气候变化的方法。更好地了解植物生长发育的分子机制对于设计新的策略来改良作物以适应不断变化的环境是必要的。植物激素生长素在生长发育中起着关键作用，调节着许多发育过程。虽然植物生长素信号转导的分子机制已经得到了非常详细的研究，但我们对这些分子机制的了解还远远不够。扰乱信号通路的合成化学物质已被用来识别新的基因及其在这些信号通路中的功能。本研究将集中于鉴定和鉴定三个对农用植物除草剂匹克隆反应发生改变的拟南芥突变体，即pic7、pic30和pic115。在本项目期间，这三个突变基因将通过基于图谱的克隆来鉴定，并将利用遗传学、分子和生化方法来表征它们在生长素反应中的功能。由于Picloram的功能与其他已知的生长素不同，这些基因及其功能有望阐明参与植物生长素反应的新的分子机制。这项工作的更广泛影响将加强不同层次的科学教育。该项目旨在为研究生、本科生和高中生提供生长素生物学研究方面的培训。德克萨斯州立大学有27%的少数民族学生入学，附近的圣马科斯高中(SMHS)有的拉美裔学生。该项目将对少数民族学生的科学培训产生重大影响。此外，将与生物3465植物生理学课程的本科生一起进行为期一学期的探究式实验模块。为了最大限度地发挥这项研究对6-12年级教育的影响，德克萨斯州立大学将在在职前和在职教师培训中引入生长素生物学的调查模块。与SMHS合作，每年暑假将对一至两名高中生进行培训。由于这里概述的实验涉及遗传学、分子生物学、生物化学、生理学和基因组学等多个学科，学生将接触到许多科学学科的实践经验。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Some of the major challenges that the world faces today are how to feed the ever-increasing population and to find the ways to deal with global climatic change. A better understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in plant growth and development is necessary to design new strategies to improve crop plants that suit the changing environment. The plant hormone auxin plays a pivotal role in growth and development, regulating many developmental programs. Although molecular mechanisms involved in auxin signaling in plants have been studied in great detail, our understanding on these molecular mechanisms is far from complete. Synthetic chemicals that perturb signaling pathways have been used to identify new genes and their functions in these signaling pathways. This study will focus on identification and characterization of three Arabidopsis mutants, pic7, pic30 and pic115 with altered response to picloram, an auxinic herbicide that is widely used in Agriculture. During the term of this project, these three mutant genes will be identified by map-based cloning, and their functions in auxin response will be characterized using genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches. As picloram functions differently from other known auxins, it is expected that these genes and their functions will elucidate new molecular mechanisms involved in plant auxin response. The broader impacts of this work will enhance science education at different levels. The project is set to train graduate, undergraduate and high school students in auxin biology research during the term of this project. Texas State University has 27% minority student enrollment and nearby San Marcos High School (SMHS) has 64% Hispanic student population. The project will have a major impact on training of minority students in science. Additionally, an inquiry based semester?long laboratory module will be conducted with the undergraduate students in Bio 3465 Plant Physiology course. To maximize the impact of the research on grade 6-12 education, an inquiry module on auxin biology will be introduced to pre and in-service teacher training at the Texas State University. In collaboration with the SMHS, one to two high school students will be trained during each summer. As experiments outlined here involve several disciplines such as genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and genomics, students will be exposed to hands on experiences in many scientific disciplines.