Role of Non-Canonical pPLA-Mediated Acyl Hydrolysis in Plant Functional Morphology

谷类植物的花序结构影响花朵密度、种子数量和粮食产量。然而，调控花序结构的机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。该项目涉及调节生殖结构和种子生产的分子和信号过程。它研究了一系列酶如何与两种类型的蛋白质相互作用，以影响它们的细胞活动和生理功能。这些结果有可能发现一种新的调控关系，调节株高、花序结构和种子产量。该项目将对科学、教育和社会产生更广泛的影响。研究活动将为培训学生和研究人员提供机会，并作为扩大未被充分代表的群体参与科学的平台。拟议研究的研究结果有可能提高作物的功能结构和粮食、饲料、燃料和工业原料的产量。水稻在该项目中的使用进一步促进了知识转化为作物改良，如提高穗密度和粮食产量。因此，拟议的活动将促进基础知识和潜在的应用于谷物作物改良。该项目的目标是了解特定的Patatin相关磷脂酶AS(PPLAs)如何调节株高、生殖结构和种子大小。假设含有非典型酯酶基序的pPLAIII通过其独特的酶活性和相互作用影响其相互作用蛋白的亚细胞结合和功能，从而调节植物的生长和结构。其具体目的是确定：1)pPLAIII和II的催化差异和底物利用；2)pPLA对其相互作用蛋白的S酰化和膜结合的影响；3)pPLAIII与G蛋白信号转导纤维素合成酶功能的联系，以实现各向异性生长；以及4)改变pPLAIII的活性、亚细胞相互作用和表达在穗部结构和种子生产中的作用。多种方法，包括突变、结构建模、酶学、脂质组学、基因组编辑、细胞生物学和生物形态学，将被整合以检验假设并实现目标。这项研究的完成将填补谷物功能结构监管机制方面的关键知识空白，并测试增强水稻生殖结构的潜在应用。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。

Cereal plant inflorescence architecture affects flower density, seed numbers, and grain production. However, the mechanism that regulates inflorescence architecture remains largely unknown. This project addresses the molecular and signaling processes that modulate the reproductive structure and seed production. It investigates how a family of enzymes interacts with two types of proteins to affect their cellular activities and physiological functions. The results have the potential to discover a new regulatory nexus that modulates plant height, inflorescence architecture, and seed yield. The project will have broader impacts on science, education, and society. The research activities will provide opportunities for training students and researchers and serve as a platform to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in science. Research findings from the proposed research have the potential to enhance crop functional structure and production for food, feed, fuel, and industrial feedstocks. The use of rice in the project further facilitates the knowledge translation to crop improvement, such as enhancing panicle density and grain yield. Thus, the proposed activities will advance the fundamental knowledge with potential applications for cereal crop improvement.The goal of this project is to understand how specific patatin-related phospholipase As (pPLAs) modulate plant height, reproductive architecture, and seed size. The hypotheses are that pPLAIIIs that contain a non-canonical esterase motif act through their unique enzymatic activities and interactions to affect the subcellular association and function of their interacting proteins mediating plant growth and structures. The specific aims are to determine: 1) the catalytic difference and substrate uses of pPLAIII and II; 2) the effect of pPLAs on S-acylation and membrane association of their interacting proteins; 3) the connection of pPLAIII with G protein signaling to cellulose synthase functions for anisotropic growth; and 4) the role of altered pPLAIII’s activity, subcellular interactions, and expression in panicle architecture and seed production. Multiple approaches, including mutagenesis, structural modeling, enzymology, lipidomics, genome-editing, cell biology, and organismal morphology, will be integrated to test the hypotheses and accomplish the goal. Completion of the research will fill critical knowledge gaps in the regulatory mechanism for cereal functional structures and test potential applications to enhance rice reproductive architecture.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.