Mechanism of Trehalose Control of Shoot Development

植物的生长和发育依赖于资源的可用性，包括通过光合作用产生的糖，然而植物如何协调这些过程在很大程度上是未知的。该项目将研究植物中的基因，这些植物产生一种名为海藻糖-6-磷酸(T6P)的糖，这种糖在植物中充当一种重要的激素，类似于人类的胰岛素。研究人员发现了产生T6P的酶的意想不到的特性，包括存在于细胞核中，以及与核糖核酸结合的蛋白质的联系。他们还发现，同一途径中的不同酶形成了一个物理复合体，可能会协调其活动。该项目将使用一种名为低温电子显微镜的高分辨率方法来研究这个复合体的结构组织，并探索它是如何协调植物生长的。通过洞察T6P在代谢信号和植物生长中的作用，项目成果将提供对作物植物生长的更清晰的理解，与农业生产力相关。研究人员还将通过培训高中生和博士后研究员来为推广和教育做出贡献。PI项目指导着冷泉港未来实验室合作伙伴计划，该计划指导高中生，并允许他们体验尖端研究实验室的生活。该项目将扩大这一计划，重点是为来自代表不足群体的高中生提供不考虑需求的指导和研究机会，并支持他们的科学发展。海藻糖-6-磷酸(T6P)是植物糖代谢和生长的重要调节剂，在分枝、开花时间和逆境恢复中具有独特的作用。然而，T6P控制这些过程的分子机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在了解编码海藻糖磷酸酶(TPP)的RAMOSA3(RA3)控制玉米分枝的机制。RA3聚集在核斑点，经历相分离，并与RNA结合蛋白和海藻糖磷酸合成酶(TPS)蛋白相互作用。这些发现表明，RA3利用非常规的兼职活动来控制发育程序的表达，以响应代谢信号。该项目将在细胞、蛋白质组和基因组水平上使用多种方法来研究与糖信号有关的酶是如何控制植物发育的。这项研究有可能阐明更清楚地理解T6P信号，它与植物新陈代谢、胁迫信号、开花和花序结构有关，所有这些都是作物生产的重要因素。这一奖项反映了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。

Plant growth and development relies on the availability of resources, including sugars produced through photosynthesis, however how plants coordinate these processes is largely unknown. This project will study genes in plants that produce a type of sugar called trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) that acts as an important hormone in plants, similar to insulin in humans. The researchers have found unexpected properties of the enzymes that produce T6P, including presence in cell nuclei, and association with proteins that bind to ribonucleic acids. They also found that different enzymes in the same pathway form a physical complex that may coordinate its activity. The project will investigate the structural organization of this complex, using a high resolution method called cryo-electron microscopy, and explore how it coordinates plants growth. By providing insight into the roles of T6P in metabolic signaling and plant growth, the project outcomes will provide a clearer understanding of crop plant growth, with relevance to agricultural productivity. The researchers will also contribute to outreach and education by training high school students as well as a post-doctoral researcher. The project PI directs the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Partners for The Future Program, which mentors high school students, and allows them to experience life in a cutting-edge research laboratory. The project will expand this program, with a focus on providing needs-blind mentoring and research opportunities to high school students from under-represented groups and supporting their scientific development. Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) is an important regulator of sugar metabolism and growth in plants, with specific roles in branching, flowering time and stress resilience. However, the molecular mechanisms by which T6P controls these processes is unknown. This proposal aims to understand the mechanism by which RAMOSA3 (RA3), which encodes a trehalose phosphate phosphatase (TPP) enzyme, controls maize shoot branching. RA3 accumulates in nuclear puncta, undergoes phase separation, and interacts with RNA binding proteins and trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) proteins. These findings suggest that RA3 uses an unconventional moonlighting activity to control the expression of developmental programs in response to metabolic signals. The project will use multiple approaches at cellular, proteomic and genomic scales to ask how an enzyme implicated in sugar signaling controls plant development. This research has the potential to elucidate a clearer understanding of T6P signaling, which is relevant to plant metabolism, stress signaling, flowering and inflorescence architecture, all of which are important factors in crop productivity.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.