Molecular Analysis of Proteins Involved in Plant Endocytosis and Cytokinesis

智力价值正常植物的生长和发育高度依赖于细胞分裂所介导的膜运输、对生长素运输、营养吸收以及激素和病原体信号转导至关重要的质膜蛋白的吸收和再循环。十多年的研究使我们目前了解了酵母和哺乳动物细胞内吞所需的蛋白质和脂类的复杂网络。相比较而言，我们对笼状蛋白在植物体内介导的膜转运机制的了解还很少。然而，最近的研究表明，植物的内吞机制及其调节已经进化到满足植物形态发生和生长所必需的独特要求。要理解分子筛蛋白在植物和其他系统中介导的膜运输的异同，关键是全面鉴定和表征进化上保守的蛋白，以及参与植物分子筛蛋白包膜囊泡形成和靶向的植物特有的核心和辅助机制，并阐明这些蛋白在植物细胞分裂中的作用。蛋白质组学、生物化学、遗传学和成像研究被提议用来鉴定和直接表征与植物笼蛋白包裹的内吞囊泡的形成和靶向有关的蛋白质。更广泛的影响，这些研究可能会为依赖于笼状蛋白的植物和进化分化生物的运输的分子动力学提供新的见解。此外，由于笼状蛋白包裹的囊泡运输涉及广泛的植物过程，我们的结果将产生基础知识，从长远来看，将有助于开发可持续食品、饲料和生物燃料生产所需的具有更高生物量产量的改良作物。这项工作还将包括对本科生、研究生和博士后的培训，他们将学习各种重要的技术，包括成像的计算技术。

Intellectual MeritNormal plant growth and development is highly dependent upon clathrin-mediated membrane trafficking for cell division, the uptake and recycling of plasma membrane proteins critical for auxin transport, nutrient uptake and hormone and pathogen signaling. More than a decade of research has led to our current understanding of the complex network of proteins and lipids required for endocytosis in yeast and mammalian cells. By comparison, our knowledge of the mechanism of clathrin-mediated membrane transport in plants is rudimentary. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the plant endocytic machinery and its regulation have evolved to meet the unique requirements necessary for plant morphogenesis and growth. Key to our understanding the similarities and differences between clathrin-mediated membrane transport in plants and other systems will be the comprehensive identification and characterization of the evolutionarily conserved, along with the plant-specific core and accessory machinery involved in the formation and targeting of plant clathrin-coated vesicles and elucidation of the role of these proteins in plant cell division. Proteomic, biochemical, genetic and imaging studies are proposed to identify and directly characterize proteins involved in the formation and targeting of plant clathrin-coated endocytic vesicles. Broader Impact These studies will likely provide new insight into the molecular dynamics of clathrin-dependent trafficking in plants and evolutionarily divergent organisms. In addition, as clathrin-coated vesicle trafficking is involved in a wide range of plant processes, our results should generate fundamental knowledge that will in the long term, aid in the development of improved crops with enhanced biomass yield necessary for sustainable food, feed, and biofuel production. The work will also involve the training of undergraduates, graduate students and post-docs who will learn a variety of important techniques including computational techniques for imaging.