Relationship between ethylene and auxin signalling in Arabidopsis root development

植物的生长发育受遗传程序和环境影响的共同控制。例如，花器官的图案受环境的影响很小，可以认为很大程度上取决于遗传因素；但植物发育的其他方面，如开花的时间、叶或根的生长，更多地取决于温度、水和养分的可用性等主要条件。环境对基因表达和发育变化的影响是通过植物激素来协调的。其中一种激素，气体乙烯，影响许多发育过程，包括根的生长和发育。这笔拨款的目的是更好地了解它如何与另一种关键激素生长素相互作用，以控制根中的基因表达和细胞组织。我们已经发现拟南芥的一种特殊突变体，即北极星突变体，不能正确调节其对乙烯的反应，导致根系缩短，这是过度暴露于乙烯的植物的典型特征。与此同时，乙烯问题影响了根系中生长素的运输和积累，而生长素在调节根系发育中起着重要作用。我们希望通过研究不同的乙烯突变体对生长素运输和积累、细胞组织和根生长的影响，更好地了解乙烯、生长素和根生长之间的联系。

The growth and development of plants is controlled by a combination of genetic programming and environmental influence. For example, the patterning of floral organs is altered very little by the environment, and can be considered to be strongly dependent on genetic factors; but other aspects of plant development, such as the timing of flowering or the growth or leaves or roots, is much more dependent on prevailing conditions of temperature, water and nutrient availability, and so on. The effects of environment on gene expression and developmental changes are coordinated by plant hormones. One such hormone, the gas ethylene, influences many developmental processes, including root growth and development. The aim of this grant is to understand better how it interacts with another key hormone, auxin, to control gene expression and cellular organization in the root. We have already found that one particular mutant of the plant Arabidopsis, the polaris mutant, is unable to regulate correctly its ethylene responses, resulting in a shortened root system typical of plants that have been over-exposed to ethylene. At the same time, this ethylene problem affects the transport and accumulation of auxin in the root, previously found to be important in regulating root development. We hope to understand better the link between ethylene, auxin and root growth, by studying different ethylene mutants for altered auxin transport and accumulation, cellular organization and root growth.