Computational biology of plant development: Towards a deductive science

植物发育的计算生物学：走向演绎科学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-06279
• 负责人: Prusinkiewicz, Przemyslaw
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=685197
• 关键词: Computational; biology; plant; development; Towards

Computational Biology of Plant Development: Towards a Deductive Science******Since the early 2000s, a mechanistic understanding of plant development has begun to emerge through a combination of molecular genetics, advances in microscopy, and computational models. Surprisingly, the development of diverse structures may result from related mechanisms expressed in different contexts. For instance, the development of leaves leading to their various shapes, and their positioning on the supporting stem, are manifestations of a common molecular mechanism involving the interaction between the plant hormone auxin and its transporters, the PIN proteins. The universality of this and other mechanisms (e.g., competition between plant organs for space) suggests that the essence of diverse developmental processes in plants can be reduced to, and deduced from, a small number of fundamental principles. The quest for such principles is the overarching objective of my proposed research.******I plan to proceed by devising mathematically well-founded methods for representing and simulating the development of heterogeneous plant structures. As a starting point, I will use the models of leaves with embedded veins that were previously developed in my lab. The resulting methods will be applied to address the patterning of flower heads: the flower-like inflorescences (flower clusters) characteristic of plants in the aster family, such as gerbera, sunflower and daisy. The conspicuous regularity and mathematical properties of the spiral patterns found in these heads have attracted interdisciplinary interest over centuries, yet the patterning mechanism has remained unknown. Based on unique data obtained in collaboration with biologist colleagues and computational models being devised in my lab, I believe that we can solve this long-standing problem. The solution will provide a point of departure to explain a related phenomenon, the development of the vascular structure of flower heads. The results will be generalized to a wider spectrum of biological structures. Taken together, this work will constitute a step towards characterizing diverse processes and structures in plants in terms of broadly applicable, general principles.******The proposed research has an inherently interdisciplinary character, applying methods of computer science and mathematics to problems originating in biology, and involves collaborations with plant scientists. Computational models based on experimental data will be devised and used to explore causal relations in the self-organizing developmental processes under study. The geometric aspects of the emerging structures link this research program to computer graphics. **

植物发育的计算生物学：自2000年代初以来，采用科学******，通过分子遗传学，显微镜和计算模型的结合，对植物发育的机械理解已经开始出现。令人惊讶的是，各种结构的发展可能是由于在不同情况下表达的相关机制引起的。例如，叶子的发展导致各种形状，以及它们在支撑茎上的位置，是一种常见的分子机制的表现，涉及植物激素生长素及其转运蛋白之间的相互作用，即销蛋白。该机制和其他机制的普遍性（例如，植物器官之间的空间竞争）表明，可以将植物中各种发育过程的本质降低到并从少数基本原则中降低并推论。对这种原则的追求是我提出的研究的总体目标。作为起点，我将使用先前在实验室中开发的嵌入式静脉的叶子模型。所得的方法将用于解决花头的模式：绿色家族中植物的花朵状花序（花簇）的特征，例如Gerbera，Sunflower和Daisy。这些头部中发现的螺旋模式的显着规律性和数学特性吸引了几个世纪的跨学科兴趣，但模式机制仍然未知。 基于与生物学家同事和在我的实验室中设计的计算模型合作获得的独特数据，我相信我们可以解决这个长期存在的问题。 该解决方案将提供一个出发点来解释相关现象，即花头血管结构的发展。结果将被推广到更广泛的生物结构。综上所述，这项工作将迈出一步，以广泛适用的一般原则来表征植物中的各种过程和结构。******拟议的研究具有固有的跨学科特征，将计算机科学和数学的方法应用于源自生物学的问题，并与植物科学家进行合作。 将设计基于实验数据的计算模型，并用于探索正在研究的自组织发展过程中的因果关系。新兴结构的几何方面将该研究程序与计算机图形学联系起来。 **