NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

本行动资助2016财年美国国家科学基金会国家植物基因组计划生物学博士后研究奖学金。该奖学金支持奖学金获得者在主办实验室的研究和培训计划，该奖学金获得者还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。Alex Harkess博士的研究和培训计划的标题是“被子植物中生殖阶段rna的起源”。该奖学金的主办机构是唐纳德·丹福斯植物科学中心，赞助科学家是布莱克·迈耶斯博士。所有开花植物都有一种叫做花药的结构，在繁殖过程中产生雄性花粉。在单子房亚群中，有一类独特的小分子，被称为小rna，在花粉产生之前在花药中表达。这些小rna调节着基因在特定时间的开启和关闭，从而可能确保正常繁殖。尽管这些小rna很重要，但它们的功能和调控细节尚不清楚。该项目研究了这些小rna何时以及如何在草中进化，从而阐明了它们在进化背景下的功能重要性。信息将通过公共花园的外联项目传播。在与Longwood Garden （Philadelphia， PA）和Missouri Botanic Garden （St. Louis， MO）的合作下，Longwood杂交睡莲的基因组将被测序，结果信息将用于公共花园展览，将遗传学与这组早期分化开花植物的进化联系起来。该项目的目的是确定21和24nt阶段，次级，小干扰rna起源的关键进化事件，特别是在单子房。有趣的是，一个重复事件导致了单染色体特异性dicer样蛋白DCL5的出现。对不同单子房群的减数分裂花药的转录组测序将用于精确定位导致单子房中Dicer-like 3 （DCL3）和Dicer-like 5 （DCL5）分化的复制事件的系统发育位置。在确定这一重复事件后，DCL5基因的一个系统发育多样性亚群将被转化为玉米雄性不育DCL5基因敲除，以试图挽救其功能。同时，原位杂交和免疫定位将在系统发育不同的单子房中进行，以确定花药中蛋白质定位的潜在变化，进一步阐明生殖发育过程中的功能。

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016. 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 Dr. Alex Harkess is "The origins of reproductive phasiRNAs in the angiosperms". The host institution for the fellowship is the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Blake Meyers.All flowering plants have structures called anthers that produce male pollen during reproduction. In the sub-group of monocots, a unique class of small molecules, called small RNAs, are expressed in anthers just before pollen is produced. These small RNAs regulate how genes are turned on and off at specific times, thus likely ensuring normal reproduction. Despite the importance of these small RNAs, details of their function and regulation are not well understood. This project investigates when and how these small RNAs evolved in the grasses, thereby clarifying their functional importance in the context of evolution. Information will be conveyed through an outreach project with public gardens. In collaboration with the Longwood Garden (Philadelphia, PA) and the Missouri Botanic Garden (St. Louis, MO), the genome of the Longwood Hybrid water lily will be sequenced, and the resulting information will contribute to a public garden exhibit that connects genetics to evolution in this group of early-diverging flowering plants. The aims of this project are to identify the key evolutionary events underlying the origin of 21 and 24nt phased, secondary, small interfering RNAs particularly in the monocots. Interestingly, a duplication event led to the presence of a monocot-specific Dicer-like protein, DCL5. Transcriptome sequencing of meiotic anthers across diverse groups of monocots will be used to carefully pinpoint the phylogenetic placement of the duplication event that led to the divergence of Dicer-like 3 (DCL3) and Dicer-like 5 (DCL5) in the monocots. After identifying this duplication event, a phylogenetically diverse subset of DCL5 genes will be transformed into the maize male-sterile DCL5 knockout to attempt to rescue function. Simultaneously, in situ hybridization and immunolocalizations will be performed across phylogenetically diverse monocots to identify potential changes in protein localization in the anther, further clarifying function during reproductive development.