Arabiodopsis 2010: Network Analysis of Disease Resistance Signaling

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Arabidopsis 2010 Project - Network Analysis of Disease Resistance Signaling PI - Jane Glazebrook Co-PI - Fumiaki Katagiri Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota ABSTRACT This project will determine the function of a network of genes involved in disease resistance. The genes studied will be chosen from among those found to be expressed at increased levels after pathogen infection. As several thousand genes satisfy this condition, genes will be prioritized based on other characteristics, such as rapid expression changes or annotation suggesting functions in signaling, secondary metabolism, or unknown function. There are four Specific Aims: 1. Obtain global expression profiles for Arabidopsis responses to P. syringae infection. 2. Identify genes that contribute to resistance to P. syringae. 3. Identify genes comprising the defense signaling circuitry controlling activation of defense responses. 4. Model the defense signaling circuitry using gene expression profiles of regulatory mutants. A description of the project, including a list of genes under study named by Arabidopsis Gene Index numbers, allele numbers of mutants under study, project status and preliminary results, will be available to the public at: http://www.cbs.umn.edu/labs/glazebrook/NSF2010/. The function of selected genes in disease resistance will be determined using mutants with defects in the selected genes. These mutants will be tested for enhanced susceptibility to pathogen attack and altered expression profiles following infection. Based on the expression profile data, a model of the topology of the signal transduction network controlling activation of defense responses will be constructed. Results will be shared at http://www.cbs.umn.edu/labs/glazebrook/NSF2010/ as soon as they are judged to be reliable. Such results will include data from global expression profiling experiments (expected within 18 months from project start, and also posted at TAIR), pathogen susceptibility data from mutant lines (beginning 18 months from project start), expression profiles from mutant lines (beginning 24 months from project start), and network topology models (prior to the end of the project). In addition, project results will be shared at conferences and in publications in the scientific literature. The project addresses the 2010 program objective of determining functions for networks of genes involved in a particular biological process. In this case, the biological process is activation of a defense response to pathogen attack. The project will have broader impacts in the area of integration of research and education. These include participation of undergraduates, including those from under-represented groups, involvement of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in laboratory teaching of undergraduates, development of a mentoring program for undergraduates involved in laboratory research, and integration of research results into a bioinformatics course. Improved understanding of plant disease resistance mechanisms has potential applications in crop improvement.