NPGI: NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

这一行动为NSF国家植物基因组计划2013财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该奖学金支持在东道主实验室为该研究员制定的研究和培训计划，该研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与度的计划。朱莉·托马斯的这项研究和培训计划的标题是“分析水稻中干旱调节基因的逆境耐受性的选择性剪接”。该奖学金的主办机构是阿肯色大学，赞助科学家是安迪·佩雷拉博士。选择性剪接形成来自单个基因的多个转录本，这些转录本可以通过转录后处理产生非常快速的功能转录本，以帮助植物响应环境压力。该项目的目标是：1)利用RNA-Seq分析水稻对干旱胁迫的选择性剪接；2)RNA-Seq技术和生物信息学的新进展将被用来识别胁迫反应差异表达的选择性剪接转录本；以及3)在水稻基因多样性小组中评估选择性剪接转录本，以研究与干旱胁迫反应表型或胁迫参数的关系。分子育种的目标包括生物信息学、作物基因组学、干旱生理学和分子育种方法。更广泛的影响包括提高在植物改良和相关科学方面进行跨学科研究的能力，如生物信息学、生理学、基因组学和分子育种。该项目还将解决气候变化的一个主要问题，即植物对不断变化的环境的反应，在这种环境中，干旱和其他非生物压力正变得更加频繁。了解缺水如何影响作物产量，将对提高作物对干旱胁迫的耐受性做出重大贡献。

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2013. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Julie Thomas is "Analysis of Alternative Splicing in Drought Regulated Genes for Stress Tolerance in Rice". The host institution for the fellowship is the University of Arkansas and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Andy Pereira.Alternative splicing forms multiple transcripts from individual genes that can generate very rapid changes in functional transcripts by post-transcriptional processing to help the plant respond to environmental stresses. The objectives of this project are: 1) analysis of alternative splicing in rice in response to drought stress using RNA-Seq; 2) new developments in RNA-Seq technology and Bioinformatics will be used to identify stress responsive differentially expressed alternatively spliced transcripts; and, 3) evaluation of alternatively spliced transcripts in a rice genotype diversity panel, to study the association to drought stress response phenotypes or stress parameters. Alternatively spliced transcripts that distinguish drought tolerance can be developed as functional markers for molecular breeding.Training objectives include bioinformatics, crop plant genomics, drought physiology, and molecular breeding approaches. Broader impacts include enhancement of the capacity for conducting interdisciplinary research in plant improvement and associated sciences such as bioinformatics, physiology, genomics and molecular breeding. The project will also address a major problem of climate change, the response of plants to changing environments in which drought and other abiotic stresses are becoming more frequent. An understanding of how water scarcity affects crop yields would be a major contribution towards making crops more tolerant to drought stress.