PI: Timothy Nelson, Yale University Proposal IOS-0718881 Vascular Pattern Formation in Leaves of Arabidopsis
This project seeks to understand the patterning of leaf venation networks in plant. A role for auxin signaling and polar auxin transport (PAT) has been demonstrated recently in many developmental processes, including vein patterning and phyllotaxy, which is the arrangement of leaves on a stem. However, each case of auxin patterning relies on a distinct context; certain cells and certain pathways within them are made auxin-responsive in a manner unique to that process, at the right time and place in development. That is, there are unique features both upstream and downstream of auxin''s role. Prior results from this project suggest that inositol signaling regulates vein patterning. This project will use genetics, cell biology and biochemistry to test the hypothesis that specific phosphoinositol signals provide a connection between cellular spatial information in developing leaf tissue and the more specific PAT phenomena that facilitate vein patterns in that tissue. The results would include the colocalization of inositol enzymes with the endomembrane traffic machinery associated with PAT, the definition of regulatory interactions among phosphoinositol signals and endomembrane traffic proteins, and the identification of active inositol substrates and pathway components in vascular cells. As our understanding of vein patterning and differentiation increases, it will provide a means to influence development, pathogenesis defense, and physiology (e.g., C4 photosynthesis, resource allocation, nutrient uptake, etc), all of which depend on veins.
Broader Impacts: This project serves as a training vehicle for students, postdoctoral scientists, and minority summer research interns. The project is a source of illustrations for the PI''s teaching of biology to non-science undergraduates, many of whom have interest in working on science policy and science & society issues.
