Collaborative Proposal: RCN on Integrative Pollen Biology

花粉管是一种特殊的植物细胞，其功能是运送精子使卵受精，因此它们对植物繁殖，农业生产力和物种保存至关重要。 从花粉粒中伸出一个管状物的营养细胞被广泛认为是研究细胞生长的一个很好的模型系统。 花粉和雌蕊（雌性生殖器官）之间的相互作用控制着花粉管的生长、方向和精子的排出，是细胞间通讯研究的极好模型。近年来，花粉研究已进入一个令人兴奋的新阶段，通过采用分子遗传学，功能基因组学和活细胞成像的新工具的刺激下，变革性的进展。 这种模型细胞系统也吸引了越来越多的新的和建立的研究人员在不同的生物领域的背景。 综合花粉生物学研究协调网络（RCN）旨在为不断扩大的花粉社区提供一个协调的论坛，以协同合作，交流信息，共享工具和资源，并讨论工作模式。 该网络将侧重于开展活动，以培养和扩大研究界，并促进合作实验和计算方法，以实现对花粉的系统了解。基础花粉研究方法的短期课程将为建立专门用于花粉研究的各种研究方法提供一个良好的开端，从而降低新人在考虑启动花粉研究时面临的障碍。在多个公共和私人数据库中存储的信息激增，RCN的主要目标之一将是提取这些信息，共享并在协作组中工作，以加快和促进下一个十年的研究进展。RCN将建立一个？维基花粉？网站，以促进整合的生化，生理和细胞数据从不同的实验室对一个试点的努力，在模拟花粉管生长，从进一步的假设可能会产生，以获得更深入的了解这一细胞生长过程。RCN还将赞助研究生暑期实习，以衔接生物学和计算机科学接口的培训。RCN赞助的实习生将开发数据挖掘，分析和整合项目，这些项目的成果将在RCN网站上获得。 由于很少有实验室有专业知识来利用生物研究中不断增加的研究工具，RCN将补贴差旅费，以促进具有互补兴趣和专业知识的团体之间的合作。 在促进花粉社区之间的研究效率，RCN？我们的最终目标是在未来几年内推动花粉研究处于科学和技术的前沿。 RCN将赞助主要本科院校（PUI）或少数民族服务机构与网络实验室内的研究型大学之间的教师和学生互访。 这些双向访问，特别是来自研究型大学的科学家访问研究所，将有效地接触到更多本科生，而这些访问对这些研究所的研究活动的影响将更可持续。为了从早期阶段拓宽未来生物学家的管道，RCN还将赞助高中教师的暑期实习和研讨会，他们将把植物繁殖的令人兴奋的发展带给高中学生。

Pollen tubes are specialized plant cells whose function is to transport sperm to fertilize the egg, thus they are crucial for plant reproduction, agricultural productivity and species preservation. The vegetative cell that extends a tube from the pollen grain is widely recognized as an excellent model system with which to study cell growth. Interactions between pollen and pistil (the female reproductive organ) govern tube growth, direction, and sperm discharge and are excellent models for cell-cell communication studies. In recent years, research on pollen has entered a new phase of exciting, transformational advances stimulated by adoption of new tools in molecular genetics, functional genomics and live-cell imaging. This model cell system has also attracted increasing numbers of new and established investigators with backgrounds in different biological areas. The Research Coordination Network (RCN) on Integrative Pollen Biology will aim to provide a coordinated forum for the expanding pollen community to work together synergistically, exchange information, share tools and resources and discuss working models. The Network will focus on activities to nucleate and broaden the research community and facilitate collaborative experimental and computational approaches to achieving a systems understanding of pollen. A short course on basic pollen research methods will provide a head start to establish a variety of research methods specialized for pollen study, thus lowering the barriers newcomers face when considering initiating research with pollen. There is a proliferation of information stored in multiple public and private databases, and one of the major goals of the RCN will be to extract this information, share it and work in collaborative groups in order to expedite and facilitate research advances in the next decade. The RCN will establish a ?Wiki pollen? site to facilitate integration of biochemical, physiological and cellular data obtained from different laboratories towards a pilot effort in modeling pollen tube growth, from which further hypotheses may be generated to obtain a deeper understanding of this cell growth process. The RCN will also sponsor Summer Internships for graduate students to bridge training at the interface of biology and computer science. The RCN sponsored interns will develop data mining, analysis and integration projects, and the outcomes of these projects will be accessible on the RCN website. Since few laboratories have the expertise to take advantage of the ever increasing spectrum of research tools available for biological research, the RCN will subsidize traveling expenses to facilitate collaborations between groups with complementing interest and expertise. In facilitating research effectiveness among the pollen community, the RCN?s ultimate goal is to promote pollen research at the cutting edge of science and technology for years to come.Broader Impact. The RCN will sponsor mutual visits of faculty and students between primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) or minority-serving institutions and research universities within the network laboratories. These two-way visits, especially with scientists from research universities visiting PUIs, will effectively reach more undergraduates, and the impact on research activities in these PUIs will be more sustainable after these visits. To broaden the pipeline for future biologists from an early stage, the RCN will also sponsor Summer Internships and Workshops for high school teachers, who will in turn bring the exciting developments in plant reproduction to students in high schools.