Genetics and physiology of nitrogen metabolismin plants

植物科学家很早就认识到需要开发更有效地吸收和利用养分的作物。尽管如此，植物有效吸收和利用氮的基本机制尚不清楚，这一认识的缺乏阻碍了作物养分利用效率的提高。植物营养生长过程中的氮利用是决定作物生产效率的关键过程之一，因此对确定过度使用商业肥料造成的环境破坏程度至关重要。多种化合物如硝酸盐、氨基酸及其衍生物可用于木质部的N运输，这取决于物种和N同化发生的主要部位。因此，氨基酸生物合成的合成、转运和调控是植物生物学的一个基础领域。本研究的重点将包括研究特定植物转氨酶和氨基酸转运蛋白在氮代谢中的作用，并开始了解这些基因在不同氨基酸的合成和转运中的功能作用，主要集中在丙氨酸上。更具体地说，我们将使用基因组学工具，包括T-DNA敲除，使用RNAi的反义敲除和特定基因的靶向过表达来研究丙氨酸在氮代谢和信号传导中的作用。特别感兴趣的是尝试并使用这些工具来研究特定氨基酸在植物氮状态感知和信号传导中的作用。

Plant scientists have long recognized the need to develop crops that absorb and utilize nutrients more efficiently. Despite this, the fundamental mechanisms required for the efficient uptake and utilization of nitrogen (N) in plants are poorly understood, and this lack of understanding hampers efforts to crop nutrient use efficiency. Nitrogen utilization during vegetative growth by plants is one of the key processes in determining the efficiency of crop production and consequently is critically important in determining the degree of environmental damage that results from the overuse of commercial fertilizers. A variety of compounds such as nitrate, amino acids and their derivatives can be used for N transport in the xylem, depending on the species and where the primary site of N assimilation occurs. Thus, the synthesis, transport and regulation of amino acid biosynthesis is a fundamental area of plant biology. The focus of this research will involve studying the role of specific plant aminotransferases and amino acid transporters in nitrogen metabolism and to begin to understand the functional role of the these genes in the synthesis and transport of different amino acids, with the primary focus on alanine. More specifically, we will use the genomics tools including T-DNA knock-outs, antisense knockouts using RNAi and targeted over-expression of specific genes to look at the role of alanine in nitrogen metabolism and signaling. What is of particular interest is to try and use these tools to study the role of specific amino acids in plant N status sensing and signaling.