Bilateral NSF/BIO-BBSRC: Modelling Light Control of Development

由于植被的侵入或季节性变化而引起的光环境的变化可以改变植物的生长过程，从而产生各种各样的植物结构。这种发育的“可塑性”是植物的一个定义性特征，也是生存的先决条件，允许适应不断变化的环境。对附近植被的适应性反应在自然环境中往往是至关重要的，但在大田作物的产量方面代价高昂。事实上，在密集冠层田间条件下控制作物结构的能力是植物育种者的优先事项。谈到这一需求，该项目的产出将产生新的目标和预测工具，可用于改善植被丰富环境中的植物结构。该项目旨在填补一个知识空白：尽管光不断调整植物发育，但仍不清楚这在细胞和分子水平上是如何执行的。一个主要的目标将是建立光信号是如何耦合到发展提供第一个详细的了解如何光驱动植物生长可塑性。植物在其生命周期中继续生长和发育，因此必须保持活跃的干细胞库。在茎中，干细胞位于茎尖的“分生组织”中。新器官（如叶）的产生是由一套作用于茎尖的发育基因控制的。我们和其他人的早期工作表明，光控制叶片的生产速度，叶片的大小和形态，表明光调节分生组织的功能。最近，我们发现了分子证据，有力地加强了这一主张。该研究计划旨在描绘从光激活信号转导到器官发生的分子路径，提供光如何指导发育的第一个帐户。为了帮助解决分子连接，这可能是错综复杂的，我们将采用一个综合的建模和实验制度。这是可能的，因为我们已经开发了光信号模型框架，可以扩展到分生组织基因。不同通路结构的模型模拟将使我们能够预测可以在实验室中测试的新分子连接。这种迭代过程将促进和提高路径组装的准确性。该模型将帮助我们确定不同的光机制如何改变途径的动态和发展，提供一个系统级的途径行为的理解。一个重要的成果将是产生一个具有预测能力的发育可塑性模型：作物改良计划的宝贵资源。模型开发也代表了我们朝着构建虚拟工厂的未来目标迈出的重要一步。

Changes in the light environment, caused by encroaching vegetation or seasonal progression, can alter the course of development leading to a wide variety of plant architectures. This developmental "plasticity", is a defining characteristic of plants and a prerequisite for survival, allowing adaptation to an environment in flux. Adaptive responses to nearby vegetation are often crucial in the natural environment but costly in terms of yield in a field crop. Indeed, the ability to control crop architecture in dense canopy field conditions is a priority for plant breeders. Speaking to this need, the outputs from this project will generate novel targets and predictive tools that can be used to improve plant architecture in vegetation rich environments. The project aims to fill a knowledge gap: even though light constantly tunes plant development it is still unclear how this is executed at the cellular and molecular levels. A principal aim will be to establish how light signalling is coupled to development providing the first detailed understanding of how light drives plant growth plasticity. Plants continue to grow and develop through their life cycle and so have to maintain an active stem cell pool. In the shoot, stem cells reside in the "meristem" which is located at the shoot apex. New organ (e.g. leaf) production is controlled by a suite of developmental genes that act at the shoot apex. Our earlier work and that of others showed that light controls the rate of leaf production, leaf size and morphology, suggesting light regulates meristem function. More recently we have uncovered molecular evidence that strongly reinforces this proposition. The research programme aims to delineate the molecular path from light activated signal transduction to organogenesis, providing the first account of how light directs development. To help resolve molecular connections, that may be intricate, we will employ an integrated modelling and experimental regime. This is possible as we have already developed light signalling model framework that can be extended to incorporate meristem genes. Model simulation of different pathway structures will allow us to predict new molecular connections that can be tested in the lab. This iterative process will facilitate and improve the accuracy of pathway assembly. The model will help us to determine how different light regimes alter pathway dynamics and development, providing a system level understanding of pathway behaviour. An important outcome will be the production of a developmental plasticity model with predictive capabilities: an invaluable resource for crop improvement programmes. Model development also represents an important step toward our future aim to construct a virtual plant.