400 million years of faithfulness - how the transcriptional regulators LEUNIG and SEUSS co-evolved to become key factors of reproductive development in Arabidopsis thaliana

4 亿年的忠实——转录调控因子 LEUNIG 和 SEUSS 如何共同进化成为拟南芥生殖发育的关键因素

• 批准号: 456704277
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Annette Becker
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Arbeitsgruppe Spezielle Botanik
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Units
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/456704277?language=en
• 关键词: 400; million; years; faithfulness; how

During land plant evolution whole genome duplications (WGDs) occurred rather frequently, allowing gene networks governing developmental processes to expand and rewire. This may have contributed to the generation of novel expression patterns for “old” genes and tight regulation of novel genes. These molecular evolutionary processes are thought to be a prerequisite for the origin of novel traits. Land plant sexual reproduction provides many examples to learn about the molecular origin of novelties, such as the evolutionary innovations of seed plant ovules or angiosperm carpels.Within the Research Unit ICIPS, we propose to analyze the molecular evolution of a pair of transcriptional corepressors LEUNIG (LUG) and SEUSS (SEU), which both play a major role in several aspects of flower development. Interestingly they were present already before the advent of land plants and possibly acted already as repressors of transcription. Using the widely divergent ICIPS species, we aim to shed light on the general questions on how repressors evolve when many opportunities for gene network rewiring exist in diverse plant lineages that underwent independent WGDs. More specifically, we ask questions regarding the number and expression of LUG and SEU homologs in mosses, liverworts, ferns, and seed plants, and we analyze the protein interactions of the respective proteins. Moreover, we will identify their function in sexual reproduction in non-seed plants. Using these approaches, we will address the question as to how these corepressors coevolved and were recruited to transcriptionally regulate sexual reproductive organ development flowering plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition, and together with the lab of Günter Theißen, we propose to establish the fern Ceratopteris richardii (C-fern) as a genetic model system by generating transcriptome data relevant to characterize defined stages of development and by devising a gene editing system for C-fern.

在陆地植物进化过程中，全基因组复制（WGD）相当频繁地发生，使得控制发育过程的基因网络得以扩展和重新连接，这可能有助于“旧”基因的新表达模式的产生和新基因的严格调控。陆地植物有性生殖被认为是新性状起源的先决条件。陆地植物有性生殖提供了许多了解新奇性状分子起源的例子，例如种子植物胚珠或被子植物心皮的进化创新。 ICIPS 单元，我们建议分析一对转录辅阻遏物 LEUNIG (LUG) 和 SEUSS (SEU) 的分子进化，它们在花发育的多个方面都发挥着重要作用，并且可能已经作为转录阻遏物发挥作用。针对差异很大的 ICIPS 物种，我们的目标是阐明当经历独立 WGD 的不同植物谱系中存在许多基因网络重新布线机会时，阻遏蛋白如何进化的一般问题。更具体地说，我们提出了有关苔藓、苔藓、蕨类植物和种子植物中 LUG 和 SEU 同源物的数量和表达的问题，并分析了各个蛋白质的蛋白质相互作用。此外，我们将确定它们在非有性生殖中的功能。使用这些方法，我们将与实验室一起解决这些辅阻遏物如何共同进化并被招募来转录调节开花植物（如拟南芥）的有性生殖器官发育的问题。 Günter Theißen 博士，我们建议通过生成与表征特定发育阶段相关的转录组数据并为 C-fern 设计基因编辑系统，建立蕨类植物 Ceratopteris richardii (C-fern) 作为遗传模型系统。