The individual and network functions of cell surface receptors in plant stress responses

植物育种的中心目标之一是在不降低产量的情况下生产抗病作物。完全了解植物如何调节免疫和生长将使这一过程合理化。我的研究计划的长期目标是了解植物如何利用细胞表面受体来测量环境，并调节免疫和生长所需的能量支出。植物不能移动以避免病原菌的攻击或寻找改善的环境条件。相反，它们已经进化到测量其所在地的许多方面，包括营养可获得性、环境条件和病原体存在。然后，这些不同的数据流被整合，以适当地指导能量消耗，以最大限度地提高生存和增长。富含亮氨酸重复序列的受体家族(LRR-RKS)在免疫和生长中发挥着重要作用。虽然人们对这些蛋白质非常感兴趣，但模式植物拟南芥中的225个LRR-RK中的大多数仍然是孤儿受体，没有指定的功能。 这种知识的缺乏对了解这些受体如何整合信息和调节免疫和生长构成了明显的障碍。为数不多的LRR-RKs被认为是直接的配体受体，或者通过与配体受体的物理相互作用来调节反式信号。我们假设，植物通过LRR-RKS之间的物理相互作用形成信号活性复合体，通过信号网络控制免疫和生长。 为了解决这一假设并确定这个受体网络是如何进化到功能的，我们必须首先确定孤儿LRR-RKS的生物学功能，然后确定这些功能是如何整合到网络中的。 我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标： 使用几个现有的大型数据集来预测孤儿受体的新生物功能。 实验验证了这些预测，并将生物功能分配给孤立的LRR-RKS和子网络。 将进化数据映射到网络结构上，并将其与功能信息结合起来，以了解受体和网络如何进化和对压力做出反应。 重要意义： 免疫和生长等基本生物过程由复杂的信号网络控制，而不是线性手段。我们现在有了方法和数据集，允许我们在系统级别询问这些网络，并确定如何控制这些过程。对这些网络基本逻辑的更好理解将使设计师能够通过网络操纵来生产改良作物。我们的研究计划还将为HQP提供大量的实验室和计算科学培训机会，这将为一系列研究领域和职业道路提供良好的准备。

One of the central goals of plant breeding is to produce disease-resistant crops without decreasing yield. A complete understanding of how plants regulate immunity and growth would allow for rationalization of this process. The long-term objective of my research program is to understand how plants use cell surface receptors to measure the environment and regulate energy expenditures to immunity and growth. Plants cannot move in order to avoid pathogenic attack or in search of improved environmental conditions. Instead, they have evolved to measure many aspects of their locale, including nutritional availability, environmental conditions, and pathogen presence. These disparate data streams are then integrated to appropriately guide energy expenditure to maximize survival and growth. Receptors belonging to the expanded leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase family (LRR-RKs) are known to play important roles in immunity and growth. While there is great interest in these proteins, most of the 225 LRR-RKs in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana remain orphan receptors with no assigned function. This lack of knowledge presents an obvious obstacle to understanding how these receptors integrate information and regulate immunity and growth. The few characterized LRR-RKs are known to act as either direct ligand receptors, or to modulate signals in trans through physical interaction with the ligand receptors. We hypothesize that plants control immunity and growth through a signaling network governed by the formation of signaling-competent complexes via physical interactions between LRR-RKs. To address this hypothesis and determine how this receptor network has evolved to function, we must first identify the biological function of the orphan LRR-RKs and then determine how these functions are integrated in the network. We will accomplish this by: Using several existing large datasets to predict novel biological function for orphan receptors. Experimentally validating these predictions and assigning biological function to orphan LRR-RKs and sub-networks. Mapping evolutionary data onto the network structure and combining that with functional information to understand how receptors and networks evolve and respond to stress. Significance: Fundamental biological processes such as immunity and growth are controlled by complex signaling networks rather than linear means. We now have approaches and datasets that allow us to interrogate these networks at a systems level and determine how these processes are controlled. An improved understanding of the underlying logic of these networks will allow designer production of improved crops through network manipulation. Our research program will also offer numerous training opportunities for HQP in laboratory and computational science, which will provide excellent preparation for a range of research fields and career paths.