As plants grow, they coordinate their development and environmental responses by exchanging information using small gene products called signaling molecules. The goal of this research is to determine the biological functions of 25 CLE genes that encode a family of related signaling molecules in Arabidopsis thaliana. One CLE gene product, called CLV3, communicates information between cells at the growing shoot tips of plants, but the functions of the other CLE signaling molecules are unknown. Information on where each CLE gene acts in the plant, and on analysis of experimental plants in which each CLE gene function is either impaired or artificially enhanced will be delivered through a public database developed for this project (www.pgec.usda.gov/Fletcher/CLEproject.html). These gene function data will consist of qualitative and quantitative measurements of root, shoot, leaf and flower development and environmental responses. The investigators will provide CLE clones and experimental plants without cost for other researchers to use in further experiments, and the research results will be communicated widely and in a timely fashion through meeting presentations and scientific publications. The CLE genes encode completely novel signaling molecules, and thus their analysis will be essential to reach the 2010 Project goal to determine the function of all Arabidopsis genes. Further, because plant growth and survival is critically dependent on the communication of information between cells, and because so little is known about the signaling molecules that convey this information, understanding CLE gene functions should provide fundamental new insights into how plants develop and respond to their environment.
An important component of the project is to integrate research and education to increase the general understanding of how cell-to-cell communication works. Postdoctoral associates as well as University of California at Berkeley and Caltech graduate students will be trained. Undergraduate students from these same institutions, including those from underrepresented groups will be enlisted to receive training in modern functional genomics theory and methods, which can be applied to a wide variety of biological systems. All graduate students and postdocs will assist in various aspects of the research, including the supervision of undergraduates, providing valuable training not only in science but also in mentoring.
