Collaborative Research: An F-box protein targeting PIF1 and PIF3

光是影响植物发育的最重要的环境因素之一，除了驱动光合作用之外，还控制种子萌发、生长、绿化和许多其他植物发育过程。植物科学中的一个中心问题是，在细胞水平上，植物如何对光做出反应？已知某些蛋白质充当光受体，而其他蛋白质充当光反应的抑制剂。在黑暗中，这些蛋白质在细胞内保持分离，但在光照下，到达相同的目的地，细胞核。受体的接近以某种方式通过第三种先前未鉴定的介体蛋白的作用破坏了抑制剂。本研究旨在阐明介质的身份，并研究它如何影响抑制剂的稳定性。预期从经工程改造以具有大于通常量的抑制剂蛋白并暴露于光的植物细胞中分离抑制剂蛋白将同时分离介体蛋白，这是由于它们彼此之间的亲和力，而匡威亦然。这些体内蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用将使用针对这两种蛋白质的抗体来证明。这种相互作用也将使用荧光标记的抑制剂和介体蛋白可视化，所述荧光标记的抑制剂和介体蛋白仅在抑制剂和介体蛋白物理接触时可见。可见信号应仅在植物细胞暴露于光之后产生，并且随着抑制剂被破坏，该信号随后应随时间衰减。博士后合作者将获得该奖项的支持，因为他们带头努力阐明植物对光反应的这一方面。在细胞水平上对光的感知有更好的理解，这将为工程作物提供机会，使其更快地发芽，在田间建立更大的立足点，并加强植物身高和结构的改变。

Light is one of the most important environmental factors influencing plant development, controlling seed germination, growth, greening, and many other plant developmental processes in addition to driving photosynthesis. A central question in plant science concerns how, at the cellular level, the plant responds to light? Certain proteins are known to act as light receptors while others act as inhibitors of light responses. In darkness these proteins are kept separate within the cell but, upon illumination, arrive at the same destination, the nucleus. The receptor proximity somehow destroys the inhibitor through the action of a third, previously unidentified, mediator protein. This research seeks to clarify the identity of the mediator and investigate how it influences the stability of the inhibitor. It is anticipated that isolating the inhibitor protein from plant cells engineered to possess greater than usual amounts of the inhibitor protein, and exposed to light, will simultaneously isolate the mediator protein due to their affinity for one another while the converse will also be true. These in vivo protein-protein interactions will be demonstrated using antibodies against both proteins. This interaction will also be visualized using fluorescently tagged inhibitor and mediator proteins that are visible only when the inhibitor and mediator proteins are in physical contact. Visible signal should be generated only following exposure of the plant cells to light and this signal should then attenuate over time as the inhibitor is destroyed. A post-doctoral collaborator will be supported by this award as they spearhead efforts to elucidate this facet of the plant response to light. A greater understanding of light perception at the cellular level should provide opportunities to engineer crop plants for faster germination, greater stand establishment in the field, and potentiate the alteration of plant stature and structure.