RNA结合蛋白DEK6调控玉米籽粒发育的分子机制

籽粒相关性状是决定玉米产量和品质的重要因素。玉米dek类籽粒突变体是研究这些性状和籽粒发育的重要资源。玉米经典突变体dek6具有胚乳粉质和塌陷的双重表型及胚和胚乳发育严重受阻，表明其突变本质十分重要但尚未解析。利用图位克隆技术已成功克隆了DEK6基因，编码一个新类型的RNA结合蛋白。拟南芥直系同源基因突变体At_dek6具有类似的种子塌陷且胚致死表型。本课题将从表型、转录和蛋白水平三方面研究DKE6的功能，分离并鉴定DEK6结合的靶RNA及互作的蛋白，揭示该新类型RNA结合蛋白调控胚和胚乳发育及储藏物质积累的分子机制。结合拟南芥的DEK6基因，研究其在被子植物种子演化中的功能进化。

The kernel-related traits play an essential role in determining maize seed quality and yield. Maize defective kernel mutants are the key resource to study such traits. The classical maize dek6 mutant displays both starchy and collapsed endosperm and severely arrested embryo and endosperm development, suggesting that DEK6 is essential for maize seed formation. Positional cloning revealed that DEK6 encodes a novel RNA-binding protein. Loss-of-function of its Arabidopsis ortholog AtDEK6 also causes arrested embryo and endosperm development, leading to embryo lethality. We will study the function of DEK6 through the phenotypic, transcriptional and translational analysis, thus isolating and identifying the RNA targets and the interacting proteins of DEK6. This can unravel the mechanism of DEK6 underlying embryo and endosperm development, as well as the deposition of storage compounds. Combined with the function of Arabidopsis ortholog, we will study the functional divergence of DEK6 in seed evolution during the separation of monocot and dicot angiosperms.