Given their sessile nature, plant development must be responsive to a number of environmental cues. Temperature greatly influences various developmental programs of plants. Although plant responses to stressful temperature changes have been thoroughly studied, the effect of mild alterations in temperature on plant development is less understood. In particular, changing temperatures lead to changes in gene expression that can regulate the onset of reproductive development (flowering), however the mechanisms by which this occurs are poorly understood. This project seeks to understand how plants cope with changes in temperature for their developmental reprogramming. Fluctuations in temperature impact both vegetative growth (plant biomass accumulation) and reproductive transition (the production of flowers, fruits and seeds) of plants. Therefore, knowledge of the mechanisms by which plants respond to changing temperatures will guide improvement of crop plants that can cope with changing temperatures. This project will further our understanding of the genetic mechanisms that govern temperature-triggered developmental reprogramming in plants. Genetic, biochemical and genomics approaches will be used to dissect the regulatory networks that translate temperature changes into developmental changes. Further, this proposed research will provide critical training for the next generation of scientists, including postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students, through the establishment of a teaching/research stream focused on the interactions between plants, gene expression and environmental cues. Students and fellows will have opportunities to present their research activity through scientific meetings and publications. This activity will also provide postdoctoral fellows and graduate students with training in teaching science in the laboratory environment. Activities also seek to engage undergraduate students and high school students in hands-on experience in the research laboratory setting.
Changes in temperature influence developmental programs in plants including flowering and vegetative growth. Two temperature-triggered responses in plants, response to the cold of winter and warmth-triggered responses, will be investigated. Interestingly, these two responses are mediated by two closely related Plant Homeo Domain (PHD)-finger containing proteins. Genetic and biochemical approaches to understand how these proteins mediate temperature-triggered responses will be addressed. Biochemical analyses and RNA-Seq analyses will be performed to construct regulatory networks that are mediated by PHD-finger proteins under different temperatures. PHD-finger motif is a histone binding module that recognizes and binds modified histones. The relationship between the function of PHD-finger proteins and histone modifications under different temperature will be investigated by ChIP-Seq analysis and molecular genetic approaches. Proposed research activity to dissect the molecular mechanism of temperature-triggered responses will be useful not only for understanding key mechanisms of plant development but also for elucidating the mechanism of genetic and epigenetic regulation of gene expression by environment changes.
