SUMOcode: deciphering how SUMOylation enables plants to adapt to their environment

在基本层面上，支配生命的规则是由生物体的遗传密码（就像一本书的文本）和它从环境中接收到的信号（就像读者对文本的解读）来定义的。这两者（遗传密码和信号）的结合使生物体的行为和发展方式得以实现。在分子水平上，有几个关键系统控制着生物体对环境的反应方式。这些可以是(1)通过沉默遗传密码的长期反应（如删除书中的部分文本，使其无法被解释）或(2)通过修改系统的更快速反应（如对书中的部分文本进行注释，从而改变其解释方式）。了解这些反应对于我们理解生物体如何运作以及生物体如何根据环境变化是至关重要的。这里我们关注的是第二种类型的反应，在分子水平上是由“翻译后修饰（PTMs）”启动的（这是一种改变细胞中现有机制功能的方式）。ptm是每个生物系统的核心。从细胞外获取信号并“编码”分子间的相互作用，从而改变细胞的功能。这在每个生物过程中都是至关重要的。有几种类型的ptm，但其中最重要的一种（但其代码尚未定义）是SUMOylation。在这里，我们的目标是采取一个整体的方法来理解相扑代码。在这个项目中，我们将开发一个SUMO机制细胞图谱（描述机制的每个部分的资源），如何，在哪些细胞中以及何时起作用，以便揭示触发对环境线索的SUMO化反应的关键事件的图谱。我们将使用模式植物，拟南芥，可以说是最好的非人类多细胞生物来进行这种规模的审讯。它有大量的工具和资源，使我们能够详细地分析SUMO代码，并跨越不同的单元类型、不同的开发阶段和不同的响应时间。这种SUMO化的图谱将揭示SUMO机制所针对的“枢纽”，从而引起细胞反应，揭示该途径的功能以及如何操纵它来对抗环境挑战或疾病。summoylation已经被我们的团队和其他人证明，它对细胞对环境压力的反应方式很重要。例如，植物通过调整其生长和发育（以增强其生存和繁荣的能力），通过像SUMOylation这样的PTMs来适应环境的变化（热、水、盐等）。因此，该方案的一个关键产出将是一套工具，这些工具将在整个植物界翻译相扑语言，并提供有关动物和人类健康与疾病的见解。我们的最终目标是“使”来自不同学科、植物育种家、化学公司等的研究人员能够编辑这里发现的SUMO代码，以提高作物的抗逆性，使它们在未来免受持续的气候不稳定和变化的影响，并催化植物和动物对支配生物体行为和对周围环境反应的规则的新见解。

At a basic level the rules that govern life is defined by an organism's genetic code (like the text of a book) and the signals it receives from the environment (like the interpretation of the reader of the text). The combination of these two (the genetic code and the signals) makes an organism behave and develop the way it does. At a molecular level there are several critical systems that control the way an organism responds to its environment. These can be (1) long-term responses through the silencing of the genetic code (like removing parts of the text in the book so it can't be interpreted) or (2) more rapid responses through modifications of the system (like annotation to parts of the text of a book which changes the way it is interpreted). Understanding these responses is essential to our understanding of how an organism functions and how an organism changes based on their environment. Here we are focusing on the second type of response, which at a molecular level are initiated by "post-translational modifications (PTMs)" (this a way of changing the function of the existing machinery in a cell). PTMs act at the core of every biological system. Taking signals from outside the cell and "coding" molecular interactions to change the way cells function. This is critical in every biological process. There are several types of PTMs, but one of the most important but whose code is not defined is SUMOylation. Here we aim to take a holistic approach to understanding the SUMO code.In this programme we will develop a SUMO machinery cell atlas (a resource that will characterize each part of the machinery), how, in which cells and when it works, so that a map of the key events that trigger a SUMOylation response to environmental cues can be revealed. We will use the model plant, Arabidopsis, arguably the best non-human, multicellular organism for this scale of interrogation. It has a plethora of tools and resources that will allow us to dissect the SUMO code in detail and across different cell types, different stages of development and across different response times. This mapping of SUMOylation will reveal the 'hubs' that the SUMO machinery targets to cause a cellular response, revealing how the pathway functions and how it can be manipulated to combat environmental challenges or disease. SUMOylation has already been shown by our group and others that it is important for the way a cell responds to environmental stresses. For example, plants adapt to changes in their environment (heat, water availability, salt, etc) by modifying their growth and development (to enhance their ability to survive and flourish), through PTMs like SUMOylation. Therefore, a key output of this programme will be a set of tools that will translate the SUMO language across the plant kingdom and provide insights into animal and human health and disease. Our ultimate goal is to 'enable' researchers from a range of disciplines, plant breeders, chemical companies and beyond to edit the SUMO code discovered here to improve crop resilience, future proofing them against ongoing climate instability and change, and to catalyse new insights across plants and animals into the rules that govern an organisms behaviour and responses to the environment that surrounds them.