A combined biochemical, molecular and computational approach to understanding the regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助。Sponsel（PI），Jianhua Ruan（Co-PI），Garry Sunter（Co-PI）.提案号IOS-0848135 A结合生物化学、分子和计算方法来理解拟南芥中赤霉素生物合成的调节。赤霉素类植物激素调节植物生命周期的许多阶段，从种子萌发到开花和果实发育。在特定的发育阶段，存在于特定细胞或组织中的生物活性赤霉素的量被精细地调节，并且将决定植物生长和发育是否是最佳的。为了理解建立赤霉素稳态的分子机制，确定调节赤霉素代谢和信号传导的因子是必要的。该项目汇集了三位具有植物生理学、分子生物学和生物信息学背景的科学家，以研究模式植物拟南芥中赤霉素生物合成途径中编码酶的基因的转录调控。它的重点是如何2-酮戊二酸依赖双加氧酶是由内部因素，包括赤霉素（代谢调节）和其他植物激素，如生长素调节。这些酶的转录调控似乎是在一个层次的方式设置到位，本研究的前提是，阐明这种调节的手段，从而适用于将有助于理解赤霉素的稳态。将进行启动子序列和公开的大规模微阵列数据的综合计算分析，以确定具有共同调控（时间、空间、反馈、生长素等）的2-酮戊二酸依赖性双加氧酶之间是否共享特定基序，并使用这些基序构建转录调控的定量预测模型。然后，建议测试这些图案是否定义顺式调控元件，负责在拟南芥幼苗的转录活性的时间，位置和激素调控。 跨学科研究将在德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校进行，这是一所西班牙裔服务的主要本科院校，其中75%是第一代学生。它汇集了来自计算机科学和生物学系的学生，并将培训来自传统上在科学和技术领域代表性不足的群体的学生。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Valerie M. Sponsel (PI), Jianhua Ruan (Co-PI), Garry Sunter (Co-PI).Proposal number IOS-0848135A combined biochemical, molecular and computational approach to understanding the regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.The gibberellin group of plant hormones regulate many phases of a plant's life cycle from seed germination to flowering and fruit development. The amount of bioactive gibberellin that is present in particular cells, or tissues, at specific stages of development is finely regulated, and will determine whether plant growth and development are optimal. Defining the factors that regulate gibberellin metabolism and signaling is necessary in order to understand the molecular mechanisms that establish gibberellin homeostasis. The project brings together three scientists with backgrounds in plant physiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics to examine the transcriptional regulation of genes encoding enzymes in the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. It focuses on how 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase enzymes are regulated by internal factors including gibberellins (metabolic regulation) and other plant hormones, such as auxin. Transcriptional regulation of some of these enzymes appears to be set in place in a hierarchical manner, and the premise of this research is that elucidating the means whereby this regulation is applied will be instrumental in understanding gibberellin homeostasis. Integrated computational analysis of promoter sequences and of publicly-available large-scale microarray data will be performed to determine if particular motifs are shared between 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that have common regulation (temporal, spatial, feed-back, auxin etc), and to construct quantitative, predictive models of transcriptional regulation using those motifs. It is then proposed to test whether these motifs define cis-regulatory elements that are responsible for timing, location and hormonal regulation of transcriptional activity in Arabidopsis seedlings. The interdisciplinary research will be conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic-serving, predominantly undergraduate institution with 75% first generation students. It brings together students from the Computer Science and Biology Departments and will train students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science and technology.