NSF NPGI Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

这一行动为NSF国家植物基因组计划2016财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。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。为Samuel Leiboff博士提供的这一奖学金的研究和培训计划的标题是“干旱期间探索玉米雄蕊和高粱穗发育的基因网络”该奖学金的主办机构是美国农业部-ARS植物基因表达中心，赞助科学家是Sarah C.Hake博士。干旱期间提高作物产量是美国玉米生产面临的一个关键挑战。玉米植株的雄花结构或雄穗形成几个分支，这些分支产生使玉米穗中的雌花受精所需的花粉。在生长季节初期的严重干旱期间，能量从雄穗转移到穗，雄穗分枝数量减少，可能导致季节内花粉短缺。高粱的开花结构或穗是高度抗旱的，因此高粱被研究为美国干旱地区的理想作物。该项目旨在了解玉米雄穗和高粱穗对干旱的全基因组响应，为培育在干旱中表现更好的植株提供分子信息。更广泛的影响包括形成促进STEM专业、研究和就业机会的本科生外展计划，以增加STEM学术和专业领域的LGBT本科生的参与度和留存率。随着时间的推移，将对学生进行调查，这些项目的长期管理将转移到校园倡导团体，为全国校园提供一个推广模式。培训目标包括基因组学、生物信息学、生物建模和分子遗传学。虽然以前的研究已经阐明了玉米雄穗分枝的基因调控网络(GRN)，但对于雄穗GRN如何响应非生物胁迫，如干旱，人们知之甚少。虽然在其他牧草中有几个保守的玉米GRN，但高粱穗部GRN尚未建立。利用干旱来控制雄穗形态，这个项目将探索玉米和高粱的GRN范围的干旱反应，包括已知的雄穗形态突变体。这项研究将使用RNAseq来分析几种不同干旱模拟的花序组织。利用玉米和高粱现有的GRN和基因组资源，该项目将产生并比较动态的、对干旱敏感的雄穗/穗GRN。利用这些GRN，将RNA水平与雄穗/穗分枝联系起来的形态模型将被构建。为了测试形态-GRN模型，该项目将产生和分析由CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术产生的新的雄穗/穗部突变体。研究结果和分析方法将通过会议、出版物和提交给数据/代码库(NCBI-SRA、NCBI-GEO、GitHub、MaizeGDB和Grassius)进行传播。关键词：非生物胁迫、共表达网络、干旱、花序生物学、玉米遗传学

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. Samuel Leiboff is "Exploring Gene Networks in Maize Tassel and Sorghum Panicle Development during Drought" The host institution for the fellowship is the USDA-ARS Plant Gene Expression Center and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Sarah C. Hake.Increasing crop yield during drought is a critical challenge for U.S. corn production. The male flowering structure or tassel of the corn plant makes several branches, which produce the pollen necessary for fertilizing female flowers found in corn ears. During severe drought early in the growing season, energy is re-routed from the tassel to the ear and the number of tassel branches decreases, potentially leading to a shortage of pollen during the season. Sorghum's flowering structure, or panicle, is highly drought-resistant and sorghum has therefore been studied as an ideal crop for drier regions of the U.S. This project aims to understand genome-wide responses to drought in corn tassels and sorghum panicles, providing molecular information for breeding better plant performance during drought. Broader impacts include the formation of undergraduate outreach programs promoting STEM majors, research, and career opportunities to increase participation and retention of LGBT undergraduate students in STEM academic and professional fields. Students will be surveyed over time and long-term management of the programs will be transferred to campus advocacy groups, providing an outreach model for campuses nationwide. Training objectives include genomics, bioinformatics, biological modeling, and molecular genetics. Although previous studies have elucidated gene regulatory networks (GRNs) responsible for tassel branching in maize, little is known about how tassel GRNs respond to abiotic stresses, such as drought. Whereas several maize GRNs are conserved in other grasses, sorghum panicle GRNs have not been established. Using drought to manipulate tassel/panicle morphology, this project will explore GRN-wide drought response in maize and sorghum, including known mutants of tassel/panicle morphology. This research will use RNAseq to analyze inflorescence tissue from several different drought simulations. Leveraging existing GRN and genome resources in maize and sorghum, this project will generate and compare dynamic, drought responsive tassel/panicle GRNs. With these GRNs, morphological models linking RNA levels to tassel/panicle branching will be constructed. To test morphological-GRN models, this project will generate and analyze novel tassel/panicle mutants generated by CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing techniques. Research findings and analysis methodologies will be disseminated through conferences, publications, and submissions to data/code repositories (NCBI-SRA, NCBI-GEO, GitHub, MaizeGDB, and Grassius).Keywords: abiotic stress, co-expression networks, drought, inflorescence biology, maize genetics