Analysis of the Flowering Regulatory Network in the Grass Brachypodium distachyon

开花是植物生活史上的一个关键转折。在许多植物物种中，特别是那些适应温带气候的物种，开花发生在一年中的特定时间，以响应季节信号的感应，如日长和温度的变化。这项研究的目的是进一步了解控制开花时间的基因和生化途径，以响应季节性暗示，草是一类包括许多重要作物，如小麦、燕麦、水稻和玉米的植物。许多研究将利用模式草短柄藻远距离，因为在该物种中的工作有助于识别影响开花的基因，以响应季节性暗示。产生的数据将有助于为定制作物物种的开花奠定基础，并将促进对生物如何进化系统以感知环境线索并将这些线索转化为发育程序(如开花)的基本理解。该项目将培养研究生和博士后，并为本科生提供一个学习遗传学、分子生物学和植物发育研究的机会，同时探索他们对STEM职业的兴趣。该项目还将开发一个课堂模块，为K-12年级的学生提供一个探索植物如何生长发育以及对冬季寒冷等季节性信号做出反应的机会。该项目的主要目标是促进对冬季寒冷以及冬日短的感知如何转化为稳定的表观遗传基因表达变化的理解，使适应温带气候的牧草能够在春季最有利于繁殖的条件下开花。这个过程被称为春化。该项目将涉及研究某些最近发现的关键基因，这些基因与低温和短日照两种草本植物的开花有关。这些基因以前并不知道在开花过程中起作用。一组基因编码的蛋白质可能是一种新的、植物特有的基因调控复合体的一部分；另一组基因代表了成花基因家族成员的新角色。将结合遗传学和生物化学来探索由这些基因编码的蛋白质的作用，目的是更好地了解禾本科植物开花如何对季节性暗示做出反应的分子基础。研究中的开花途径在不同的植物群体中独立进化；因此，这项研究也是研究趋同进化途径如何导致解决确保仅在冬季结束后才开花的共同问题的模型。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The initiation of flowering is a key transition in the plant life cycle. In many plant species, particularly those adapted to temperate climates, flowering occurs at a particular time of year in response to the sensing of seasonal cues such as changes in day-length and temperature. The objective of the research is to further the understanding of the genes and biochemical pathways that control the timing of flowering in response to seasonal cues in grasses, a group of plants that includes many important crops such as wheat, oats, rice, and corn. Much of the research will utilize the model grass Brachypodium distachyon because working in this species facilitates identifying the genes underlying flowering in response to seasonal cues. The data generated will help to lay the groundwork for tailoring the flowering of crop species, and will advance the basic understanding of how organisms have evolved systems to perceive environmental cues and translate those cues into developmental programs such as the initiation of flowering. This project will result in the training of graduate students and postdocs, and provide undergraduates with an opportunity to learn about research in genetics, molecular biology, and plant development while exploring their interests in a STEM career. The project will also involve development of a classroom module to provide K-12 students with an opportunity to explore how plants grow and develop and respond to seasonal signals such as the cold of winter.A major goal is to advance the understanding of how perception of winter cold as well as the short days of winter are translated into stable, epigenetic changes in gene expression that enable grasses that are adapted to temperate climates to become competent to flower in the spring when conditions are most favorable for reproduction. The process is known as vernalization. The project will involve studying certain recently discovered key genes involved in both cold-mediated and short-day-mediated flowering in grasses. These genes had not previously been known to play a role in flowering. One group of genes encodes proteins that may be part of a novel, plant-specific gene regulatory complex; another represents a new role for a member of the florigen gene family. A combination of genetics and biochemistry will be employed to explore the role of the proteins encoded by these genes with the goal of better understanding the molecular basis of how flowering is regulated in response to seasonal cues in grasses. The flowering pathways under study evolved independently in different groups of plants; thus, this research is also a model for studying how convergent evolutionary pathways can lead to a solution to the common problem of ensuring that flowering only occurs after winter has ended.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.