RUI: Cell Wall Associated Protein Kinases As Pectin Receptors

所有生物体都是由细胞或材料袋组成的，每个细胞或袋都执行生命的基本过程。每个细胞都有一个可以受环境影响的程序，以扩大、分裂和形成特定的形状。因此，植物的最终形状、大小和功能是由每个细胞的性质决定的。植物细胞被称为细胞壁的结构坚固但可塑的材料包围，其中包括碳水化合物纤维素和果胶。细胞壁对每个细胞的大小和形状有直接影响，因为它像一个笼子一样包围着每个细胞，因此细胞壁的改变直接影响细胞的形状和大小。细胞表面含有一种名为壁相关激酶(WAK)的蛋白质分子，它与细胞壁果胶结合，感知果胶结构，并将其传递到细胞内部，导致生长和对环境的反应发生变化。事实上，病原体和创伤直接影响果胶，而WAKS有助于感知这种损害。水分对植物的正常生长也是必需的。这个项目将集中在WAKS结合和感知果胶变化的机制上，以发挥区分生长和应激反应的双重作用。利用模式植物拟南芥进行的遗传和生化分析将产生可能适用于所有类型开花植物的范例。参与这项工作的本科生将被提供一种综合的科学方法，并将在毕业后准备迎接研究生院和专业学校以及私营部门的挑战。

All organisms are made up of collections of cells, or bags of material that each carry out essential processes for life. Each cell has a program that can be influenced by the environment to enlarge, divide, and form specific shapes. The ultimate shape, size and function of a plant is therefore determined by the nature of each individual cell. Plant cells are surrounded by structurally strong but plastic material called the cell wall, that includes the carbohydrates cellulose and pectin. The cell wall has a direct influence on the size and shape that each cell reaches as it acts as a cage around each cell, and hence modification of the cell wall has a direct affect on cell shape and size. The cell surface contains a protein molecule, called a wall-associated kinase (WAK), that binds to the cell wall pectin and senses the structure and relays this to the inside of the cell to cause changes in growth and responses to the environment. Indeed, pathogens and wounding directly affect pectins, and WAKs aid in the sensing of this damage. WAKs are also required for normal plant growth. This project will concentrate on the mechanism by which WAKs bind and sense pectin changes so as to play a dual role differentiating growth from the stress response. Genetic and biochemical analysis using the model plant Arabidopsis will generate paradigms likely applicable to all types of flowering plants. Undergraduate students involved in the work will be provided with an integrative approach to science, and will be prepared for the challenges of graduate and professional schools and the private sector upon graduation.