MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING FLORAL ORGAN PHOTOSYNTHESIS

mads结构域转录因子AGAMOUS （AG）是拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）花生殖器官定形、分化和分生组织确定所必需的。我们的研究小组已经获得证据表明AG控制光合作用相关基因的表达，包括气孔发育所需基因的表达。尽管AG在分化和确定过程中的作用在植物中可能是保守的，但在其他植物中分化过程中对AG的需求（包括硅藻作为光合器官的建立）尚不清楚。为了解决这些问题，我们对拟南芥和小豆蔻hirsuta进行了发育和功能基因组学的比较实验，这两种植物在3200万年前有一个共同的祖先。我们已经产生了毛孢单胞菌和拟南芥转基因品系，它们促进了AG活性的诱导敲除，我们将用它来进行比较转录组学分析。此外，我们将进行比较体内蛋白质- dna结合分析实验，以确定每个同源物的目标。我们将把这些数据与两个物种中AG活性中断后的表型评估相结合。这项工作将揭示AG的保守和分化活动以及潜在基因调控网络的灵活性。

The MADS-domain transcription factor AGAMOUS (AG) is required for specification, differentiation and meristem determinacy of floral reproductive organs in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our group has generated evidence to indicate that AG controls the expression of photosynthesis related gene expression, including genes required for stomatal development. Although the roles of AG during specification and determinacy are likely conserved in eudicots, the requirement for AG during differentiation, which includes the establishment of the silique as a photosynthetic organ, in other eudicots is unclear. To address these questions, we are performing comparative developmental and functional genomics experiments between A. thaliana and Cardamine hirsuta, which last shared a common ancestor ~32 million years ago. We have generated C. hirsuta and A. thaliana transgenic lines that facilitate an inducible knock-down of AG activity, which we will use to perform comparative transcriptomic assays. In addition, we will perform comparative in vivo protein-DNA binding profiling experiments to identify the targets of each orthologue. We will overlay these data with phenotypic assessments following disruption of AG activity in both species. This work will reveal the conserved and diverged activities of AG and the flexibility of the underlying gene regulatory network.