Functional and Biochemical Analysis of the GRAS Multiprotein Family

GRAS蛋白是最近发现的一个植物特异性蛋白家族，以从拟南芥中分离出的前三个成员（GAI、RGA和SCR）命名。从那时起，该家族的32个蛋白已被确定，但其中大多数尚未对其生物学功能进行表征。这些蛋白似乎参与了各种发育过程和信号转导途径。GAI等“DELLA”蛋白参与赤霉素信号转导，PAT1参与光敏色素信号转导，SCR、SHR、Ls参与形态发育。对编码GRAS蛋白的基因被破坏或过度表达的突变体的分析将用于确定基因产物的生理和调节功能。同时，将分析相应蛋白质的细胞生物学和生化功能。该方法的目的是确定尚未表征的GRAS蛋白的生物学作用，确定同源蛋白是否参与相关过程以及它们如何在调控网络中相互作用。

GRAS proteins are a recently discovered family of plant-specific proteins named after the first three of its members isolated from Arabidopsis (GAI, RGA and SCR). Since then 32 proteins of this family have been identified but most of them have not yet been characterized regarding their biological function. The proteins seem to be involved in various developmental processes and signal transduction pathways. GAI and other "DELLA" proteins are involved in gibberellic acid signal transduction, PAT1 in phytochrome signal transduction, and SCR, SHR und Ls are involved in morphological development. The analysis of mutants, which are either disrupted in a gene coding for a GRAS protein or overexpressing it, will be used to determine the physiological and regulatory function of gene products. In parallel, the cellbiological and biochemical function of the corresponding proteins will be analyzed. The goal of this approach is to identify the biological role of yet uncharacterized GRAS proteins, to determine if homologous proteins participate in related processes and how they interact in regulatory networks.