Protein ubiquitination and plant development

泛素化途径是一种高度保守、调控良好的途径，是真核生物正常生长和发育所必需的。该途径有效地靶向蛋白质以通过26 S蛋白酶体降解，并且还参与蛋白质活化、分选和内化。在泛素缀合级联反应的中心是底物结合E3泛素连接酶，其控制途径的特异性。超过5%的拟南芥基因组致力于蛋白质泛素化/蛋白酶体降解，这些基因中的大多数编码E3连接酶。越来越多的E3参与了植物的生长发育过程，包括光形态建成、自交不亲和和激素信号传导。然而，大多数E3仍然在很大程度上没有特征。拟议的研究重点是了解蛋白质泛素化在植物发育中的作用，特别关注RING（真正有趣的新基因）型E3连接酶的大而多样的家族的功能。在拟南芥基因组中鉴定的469个RING E3编码基因中，只有少数具有生物学功能。该提案的目的包括RING E3连接酶亚组的底物蛋白的功能表征和鉴定。这项研究将确定蛋白质泛素化在植物发育中的新作用，并为这一研究领域做出重大贡献。从这项工作中获得的知识对生物研究、植物生物技术和农业的其他领域具有潜在的影响。

The highly conserved, well regulated ubiquitination pathway is an integral part of numerous cellular processes and is required for proper growth and development of eukaryotic organisms. The pathway effectively targets protein for degradation by the 26S proteasome and is also involved in protein activation, sorting and internalization. At the center of the ubiquitin conjugation cascade is the substrate binding E3 ubiqutin-ligase enzyme, which governs specificity of the pathway. Over 5% Arabidopsis genome is dedicated to protein ubiquitination/proteasomal degradation, the majority these genes encode for E3 ligases. A growing number of E3s have been implicated in diverse plant growth and developmental processes including photomorphogenesis, self-incompatibility and hormone signaling. However, the majority of E3s remain largely uncharacterized. The proposed research focuses on understanding the role of protein ubiquitination in plant development with particular interest paid to the function of the large and diverse family of RING (Really Interesting New Gene)- type E3 ligases. Of the 469 RING E3 encoding genes identified in the Arabidopsis genome only a handful has assigned biological functions. The objectives of this proposal include the functional characterization and identification of substrate proteins for sub-groups of RING E3 ligases. This research will identify novel roles for protein ubiquitination in plant development and make significant contributions to this area of research. Knowledge acquired from this work has potential implications in other areas of biological research, plant biotechnology and agriculture.