Functional and Genetic Basis of Leaf Venation: Testing and Expanding Theory and Core Knowledge with Arabidopsis Vein Mutants and Ecotypes

叶脉的功能和遗传基础：用拟南芥脉突变体和生态型测试和扩展理论和核心知识

• 批准号: 1457279
• 负责人: Lawren Sack
• 金额: $ 111.99万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-15 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1457279&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Functional; Genetic; Basis; Leaf; Venation

Leaf vein traits are considered to be critical for understanding plant adaptation to the environment, responses to environmental changes, and crop performance. However, the direct linkages of vein traits to whole plant performance are not completely understood. This project will test and extend current theory for the role of leaf veins in plant function, using the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. The project will determine the genes underlying different vein traits and how these lead to higher-level functions including water transport and growth. This work will result in discoveries of how genes determine plant function, create resources for improving plant productivity, and clarify the evolution of natural species, with critical impacts in the fields of plant physiology, ecology and genetics. Numerous undergraduate students will be integrated into the project, receiving training is scientific methodology and data analysis. The project includes the creation of a new web resource to enable K-12 students, teachers, and members of the public to conduct their own analyses to estimate how vein properties affect plant function. The work aims to advance national prosperity and welfare through applications in agriculture and ecological sustainability and education of science students and the public in plant biology.Leaf venation is increasingly recognized as important to plant performance, with applications from agriculture to paleobiology. This understanding is based on comparative studies across diverse plant species, which showed that major structural features of leaf venation influenced leaf gas exchange. However, the theory for the importance of vein traits has not yet been tested rigorously in a model system, such as A. thaliana. Vein mutants have been identified with leaf phenotypes showing altered vein cross-sectional anatomy, spacing, patterning and/or connectivity. The project will utilize both leaf vein mutants and natural ecotypes previously subjected to genomic sequencing in a combination of physiological experiments, modeling, and genetic analyses. Hypothesized mechanistic trait linkages and genome-wide association of traits will be measured to address two research questions: (1) How do leaf vein traits influence hydraulics, gas exchange and growth? (2) What are the genetic loci associated with leaf vein traits, and how do they determine higher-level function across A. thaliana genotypes? The project breaks new ground in the ability to model how gene sequence determines key plant traits that scale up to whole plant function. The integrative approach will provide new insights into plant physiology and genetic architecture and set the stage for numerous further analyses at the intersection of these fields. Broader Impacts work will capitalize on the great appeal of leaf venation for scientists, students and laypeople. In collaboration with undergraduate students and under-represented high school students, a crowd-sourcing website will be created, "VenationNation", to provide unique resources for researchers, citizens and students to become involved in leaf venation research. The site will contain downloadable images of leaf vein systems and protocols to calculate and interpret vein traits with self-teaching and course curricula. This site will increase the involvement of citizens and students in science, provide resources for teaching, create pathways toward understanding of principles of plant science, and aid in the global dissemination of the research.

叶静脉特征被认为对于了解植物对环境的适应，对环境变化的反应和作物性能至关重要。但是，尚未完全了解静脉特征与整个植物性能的直接联系。 该项目将使用模型Thaliana模型拟南芥测试和扩展叶静脉在植物功能中的作用的当前理论。该项目将确定不同静脉特征的基因，以及这些基因如何导致更高级别的功能，包括水运输和生长。这项工作将导致发现基因如何确定植物功能，创造提高植物生产力的资源，并阐明天然物种的演变，并在植物生理，生态学和遗传学领域产生关键影响。许多本科生将纳入项目，接受培训是科学方法论和数据分析。该项目包括创建新的Web资源，以使K-12学生，老师和公众能够进行自己的分析，以估算静脉属性如何影响植物功能。这项工作旨在通过在农业和生态可持续性中的应用以及科学学生和公众在植物生物学中的应用以及越来越多地认为对植物绩效的重要性，从而促进了民族繁荣和福利。这种理解是基于跨不同植物物种的比较研究，这表明叶静脉的主要结构特征影响了叶子气体交换。然而，在模型系统（例如thaliana）中，尚未对静脉特征的重要性的理论进行严格的测试。静脉突变体已被鉴定出叶片表型，显示静脉横截面解剖学，间距，图案和/或连通性改变。该项目将利用叶静脉突变体和先前经过基因组测序的自然生态型，在生理实验，建模和遗传分析的组合中。假设的机械性状联系和全基因组特征的关联将测量以解决两个研究问题：（1）叶静脉特征如何影响液压，气体交换和生长？ （2）与叶静脉性状相关的遗传基因座是什么，它们如何确定thaliana基因型的高级功能？该项目打破了建模基因序列如何决定关键植物特征的新基础，从而扩展到整个植物功能。综合方法将为植物生理和遗传结构提供新的见解，并为在这些领域的交集中进行多次进一步分析奠定了基础。更广泛的影响力将利用叶子venation对科学家，学生和外行的巨大吸引力。与本科生和代表性不足的高中生合作，将创建一个众包网站“ VenationNation”，为研究人员，公民和学生提供独特的资源，以参与叶子Venation Research。 该网站将包含叶静脉系统和协议的可下载图像，以通过自学和课程课程计算和解释静脉特征。该站点将增加公民和学生参与科学的参与，为教学提供资源，为理解植物科学原理的途径，并帮助研究全球研究。