MCA-PGR: Cycling below-ground: Circadian regulation in wild and domesticated potato

生物钟允许生物体调整其生理以适应每日的光/暗周期。在人类中，与轮班工作相关的时差和健康状况不佳是由于我们身体的生物钟与当前环境周期的非同步化。在植物中，生物钟调节着从光合作用到胁迫反应的各种过程。此外，生物钟使植物能够测量白天的长度，从而预测季节变化，这取决于纬度。随着全球气候的变化，作物在更北方和更冷纬度的生长将需要适应日照长度的变化。生物钟产生的振荡周期约为24小时，但不完全是24小时。这种内源性昼夜节律周期的自然变化已经在包括人类在内的动物和植物中进行了测量。马铃薯显示出昼夜节律周期的自然变化，并且该周期的变化已经通过PI与马铃薯驯化的过程相关联。该奖项支持的项目将研究昼夜节律周期在不同日照长度下马铃薯生长优化中的作用。此外，该项目还将影响未来几代科学教师。学校教师是提升公众科学素养的最前线，本计划除了为职前科学教育工作者提供科学实践和科学教学的培训外，亦会探讨研究经验在教师培训中的作用。本计划的主要目的是以马铃薯为模型，了解昼夜节律如何促进异养器官的发育和对不同光周期的适应。这项工作将确定马铃薯中的昼夜节律和光周期调控基因网络及其与生理性状的关联;利用跨越地理多样性的野生马铃薯物种多样性小组确定参与昼夜节律变化的位点;并采用功能基因组学方法来表征生物钟的作用-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

The circadian clock allows organisms to adjust their physiology to daily light/dark cycles. In humans, jet lag and poor health associated with shift work are due to the desynchronization of our body's circadian clock with the current environmental cycle. In plants, the circadian clock regulates a wide array of processes ranging from photosynthesis to stress responses. Moreover, the circadian clock enables plants to measure day length, and therefore, anticipate seasonal changes, which vary depending on the latitude. With changes in global climate, growth of crops at more northern and cooler latitudes will require adaptation to altered daylengths. Circadian clocks generate oscillations with a period of about, but not exactly, 24h. Natural variation in this endogenous circadian period has been measured in animals, including humans, and plants. Potato displays natural variation of circadian period and changes in this period have been linked by the PI’s to the process of potato domestication. The project supported by this award will investigate the role of the circadian period in the optimization of potato growth under different daylengths. Moreover, this project will also impact future generations of science teachers. School teachers are at the frontline of improving public scientific literacy and this project will not only train pre-service science educators on science practices and science teaching but also investigate the role research experiences in teacher training.The broad objective of this project is to understand how circadian rhythms contribute to the development of heterotrophic organs and adaptation to different photoperiods using potato as a model. This work will define the circadian and photoperiod regulatory gene networks in potato and their association with physiological traits; identify loci involved in circadian rhythm variation using a diversity panel of wild potato species that spans geographic diversity; and employ functional genomics approaches to characterize the role of circadian clock-associated loci in potato growth and development.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.