RUI: Regulation of the plant endocycle by F-BOX STRESS INDUCED 1

植物的一个决定性的，也是永远耐人寻味的特征是它们在高度动态的和经常是有压力的环境中茁壮成长的能力。然而，植物在具有挑战性的条件下提高抗逆性的许多分子机制尚不清楚。这项工作研究如何直接改变细胞周期和共同调节的核过程，以响应外部提示，从而优化生长。这项工作产生的知识可以应用于受气候变化影响的世界中未来的作物发展。该项目将为开展自主研究项目的本科生提供培训机会和支持。基金还将支持以课程为基础的本科生研究体验(CURE)的发展，这将为课堂上的学生提供有意义地参与真实研究体验的机会。参加治疗的学生倾向于：1)更高的参与度和对科学和实验室工作的积极看法，2)对科学过程有更深的理解，3)在科学方面有更高的保留率。重要的是，治疗方法使课堂更具包容性，并通过多种措施提高学生的成功，这些学生来自历史上代表性不足的群体。这些真实的研究经验将被整合到普吉特湾大学的遗传学实验室部分和华盛顿女子惩教中心教授的生物学调查课程中，作为自由教育项目普吉特湾(FEPPS)的一部分，这是一个授予大学学位的监狱教育计划。大学水平的监狱教育将犯罪率降低43%，并为获释后的就业和/或继续教育提供途径。内周期是一种替代细胞周期，在这种周期中，核基因组复制，但细胞不分裂，增加植物在压力下的适应性，并可由环境触发。尽管后期促进复合体/环体(APC/C)促进了这种转换，但对植物利用逆境触发内环进入的机制知之甚少。这项工作研究了F-box应力诱导1(FBS1)的作用，它是泛素26S蛋白酶体系统(UPS)中的一个胁迫诱导底物适配器，选择蛋白质降解的目标。初步研究表明，FBS1与多个可能的靶点相互作用：1)APC/C的核心亚单位APC8；2)两个WD40类重复蛋白，被命名为FBS1相互作用蛋白(FBIP)。这项工作调查了FBS1通过靶向APC8(可能是翻译后修饰的形式)和FBIP降解来协调应激反应的假设。分子遗传学方法将有助于理解FBS1如何影响细胞周期和胁迫下的植物，并将确定FBIPs的生物学作用。这项工作将在体内建立FBS1与其伙伴之间的蛋白质相互作用动力学，并将确定APC8和FBIP是否是应激反应中真正的泛素化靶标。总体而言，该项目将使人们更好地了解植物如何使用UPS来诱导细胞周期中的可塑性以及将细胞过程与环境条件相匹配的共生过程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A defining, and perpetually intriguing, feature of plants is their ability to thrive in highly dynamic and oftentimes stressful environments. However, many molecular mechanisms used by plants to increase resiliency under challenging conditions are unknown. This work investigates how the cell cycle and co-regulated nuclear processes are directly altered in response to external cues so that growth is optimized. Knowledge generated by this work can be applied to future crop development in a world impacted by climate change. This project will provide training opportunities and support for undergraduate students carrying out independent research projects. Funds will also support development of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), which will offer students in classes the opportunity to meaningfully engage with authentic research experiences. Students participating in CUREs tend to: 1) be more highly engaged and have positive views of science and lab work, 2) have a deeper understanding of the scientific process, and 3) have higher retention rates in the sciences. Importantly, CUREs make classes more inclusive and increase success by multiple measures for students of historically underrepresented groups. These authentic research experiences will be integrated into the lab portion Genetics classes at the University of Puget Sound and Survey of Biology classes taught at the Washington Corrections Center for Women as part of the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS), a college degree-granting prison education program. College-level prison education reduces recidivism by 43% and provides pathways to employment and/or further education after release.The endocycle, an alternative cell cycle where the nuclear genome replicates but the cell does not divide, increases plant fitness under stress and can be triggered by the environment. Little is known about mechanisms used by plants for stress-triggered endocycle entry, although the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) promotes this switch. This work investigates endocycle entry by action of F-BOX STRESS INDUCED 1 (FBS1), a stress-inducible substrate adaptor in the ubiquitin 26S proteasome system (UPS) that selects protein targets for degradation. Preliminary data show that FBS1 interacts with multiple putative targets: 1) APC8, a core subunit of the APC/C, and 2) two WD40 repeat-like family proteins, which have been named FBS1 INTERACTING PROTEINs (FBIPs). This work investigates the hypothesis that FBS1 coordinates a stress-response by targeting APC8 (possibly a post-translationally modified form) and FBIPs for degradation. Molecular genetic approaches will lead to understanding of how FBS1 affects the cell cycle and plants under stress, and it will establish the biological roles of FBIPs. This work will establish in vivo protein interaction dynamics between FBS1 and its partners, and it will establish whether APC8 and FBIPs are true ubiquitylation targets in stress responses. Collectively, this project will lead to greater understanding of how plants use the UPS to induce plasticity in the cell cycle and co-occurring processes to match cellular processes with environmental conditions.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.