Genes and Networks Regulating Shoot Maturation and Flower Production in Tomato and Related Nightshades

PI：Zachary B.Lippman(冷泉港实验室)合作PI：Michael C.Schatz(冷泉港实验室)和Joyce Van Eck(博伊斯·汤普森植物研究所)主要合作者：Molly Hammell和Jesse Gillis(冷泉港实验室)植物在其一生中的花朵数量显示出显著的变化。这种广泛的变异可以追溯到植物从造叶到造花的方式、时间和地点的差异--开花过渡。虽然对作物产量至关重要，但在许多类型的植物中，对开花的过渡以及随后对新梢生长和花生产的影响仍然知之甚少。例如，仍然不知道为什么一种植物在每次开花过渡时只形成一朵花，就像辣椒一样，而另一种植物会像某些类型的番茄一样，长出几十个分枝，开数百朵花。为了解决植物生物学中的这个基本问题，该项目正在联合番茄和相关茄科植物(如辣椒、马铃薯和矮牵牛)中一套独特的遗传、基因组和自然变异工具，以揭示控制植物在整个发育过程中如何、何时和在哪里经历开花转换以不断产生新的枝条和花朵的基因和网络。通过分析广泛的番茄突变体和反映广泛花生产的野生茄科物种，本研究将识别和表征基因表达和DNA序列的差异，这些差异是导致开花转换和花生产变异的基础。这一多维项目将提供迄今为止关于驱动农业植物和野生植物开花和生产的关键基因调控因子的最详细信息，这将使应用新的策略来提高作物产量成为可能。茄科是最有价值的蔬菜作物生产家族，我们将向公众和科学界提供番茄、辣椒和野生茄科野生物种的广泛遗传和基因组数据，这些物种有可能成为重要的农业作物。这个项目将培训高中生和大学生进行跨学科的植物研究，并与纽约皇后区的一所小学一起开发了一个独特的推广计划，以激发年轻学生对植物生物学的兴趣，并解释整合多个研究学科的重要性，以创造知识和工具，确保粮食安全。学生们将与科学家见面，在自己的学校体验植物基因研究，在“虚拟温室”中进行儿童友好的遗传学游戏实验，并练习科学写作。每年，几名学生将被授予为期一天的访问CSHL的机会，体验第一手的现代植物生物学研究。该项目的所有数据，包括基因表达、遗传图谱、网络分析和DNA序列分析的计算工具，在通过质量控制后将立即公开。所有的脱氧核糖核酸序列数据将存放在基因库(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/)，)、SOL基因组学网络网站(http://www.sgn.cornell.edu/)，)和将开发的一个项目网站上。

PI: Zachary B. Lippman (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)Co-PIs: Michael C. Schatz (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) and Joyce Van Eck (Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research)Key Collaborators: Molly Hammell and Jesse Gillis (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) Plants show remarkable variation in the number of flowers they produce during their lifetime. This widespread variation traces back to differences in how, when, and where plants switch from making leaves to making flowers - the flowering transition. Although vitally important to crop yields, the transition to flowering and the subsequent effects on shoot growth and flower production remain poorly understood in many types of plants. For example, it is still not known why one plant will form just a single flower each time there is a flowering transition, as in pepper, and yet another plant will grow dozens of branches bearing hundreds of flowers, as in some types of tomato. To address this fundamental question in plant biology, this project is uniting a unique set of genetic, genomic, and natural variation tools in tomato and related Solanaceae plants, such as pepper, potato, and petunia, to reveal the genes and networks controlling how, when, and where plants undergo flowering transitions throughout development to continuously generate new branches and flowers. By analyzing a wide range of tomato mutants and wild Solanaceae species reflecting a wide range of flower production, this research will identify and characterize the differences in gene expression and DNA sequences that underlie variation in flowering transitions and flower production. This multi-dimensional project will provide the most detailed information yet on the key genetic regulators that drive the initiation and production of flowers in both agricultural and wild plants, which will enable the application of novel strategies to improve crop yields. The Solanaceae comprise the most valuable family for vegetable crop production, and we will deliver to both the public and scientific community broad genetic and genomic data in tomato, pepper, and edible wild Solanaceae species that have the potential to become agriculturally important crops.This project will train high school and college students in interdisciplinary plant research, and a unique outreach program has been developed with an elementary school in Queens, New York to excite young students about plant biology and to explain the importance of integrating multiple research disciplines to create the knowledge and tools that will ensure food security. Students will meet scientists, experience plant genetic research in their own school, experiment in a "Virtual Greenhouse" with kid-friendly genetics games, and practice science writing. Each year, several students will be awarded a daylong visit to CSHL to experience firsthand, modern plant biology research. All data from this project, including gene expression, genetic mapping, network analyses, and computational tools for analyzing DNA sequences will be made publically available immediately after passing quality control. All DNA sequence data will be deposited in Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/), the SOL Genomics Network (SGN) website (http://www.sgn.cornell.edu/), and a project web site that will be developed.