The NSF 2010 Arabidopsis Project

 

               REGULATORY MECHANISMS OF

               ENERGY SIGNALING IN PLANTS

 

Project Participants
Project Abstract
Project Gene List
Project Model
Publications

 

Project Participants

Jen Sheen Massachusetts General Hospital PI
Matthew Ramon Massachusetts General Hospital Research Fellow

http://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/sheenweb/mapk_cascades_nsf.html
http://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/sheenweb/

back to top


Project Abstract

 

     Photosynthetic plants are the principal solar energy converter sustaining life on Earth. Despite the fundamental importance of this function, little is known about how plants sense and adapt to darkness in the daily light-dark cycle, or to how they sense and adapt to unpredictable environmental stresses that compromise photosynthesis and respiration and lead to depletion of energy supplies. Recent studies have discovered that the evolutionarily conserved Arabidopsis protein kinases, KIN10 and KIN11, control a convergent reprogramming of transcription in response to seemingly unrelated conditions of darkness, sugar and stress.

      This project aims to build a new conceptual framework of energy signaling in plants by uncovering the diverse physiological and developmental functions, signaling links, and regulatory mechanisms of conserved energy sensors. Inducible mutant transgenic lines will be use to gain new insight into the roles of energy signaling in plant response and adaptation to diverse environmental challenges, as well as in in plant growth and development. Integrative cellular, biochemical, genetic and genomic approaches will be applied to expand our understanding of regulatory mechanisms of energy signaling resulting from control of sensor activity, stability, localization, and partner interactions to downstream transcription factors and primary target genes.

      This project represents a new line of research that integrates both diverse plant responses and regulation with convergent energy signaling vital to plant growth and survival. Studies on regulatory mechanisms of energy signaling are urgently important in light of the rising global needs in the development of renewable biofuels. This basic research will enable targeted genetic modification of carbon allocation, growth and development, architecture, and stress and pathogen resistance, all major determinants of crop yield and renewable energy production. This project will provide unique training opportunities for students and postdocs in multidisciplinary and integrative research, and promote woman and minority scientists as future research leaders. We offer educational and outreach programs serving the plant community and the general public.

 

back to top


Project Gene List

Genes AGI
KIN10 At3g01090
KIN11 At3g29160
KINb1 At5g21170
KINb2 At4g16360
KINb3 At2g28060
KINbg At1g09020
KINg At3g48530

Publications

Ramon, M., Rolland, F., and Sheen, J. 2008. Sugar sensing and signaling in Arabidopsis. The Arabidopsis Book. doi: 10.1199/tab.0117. PDF

Baena-González, E., Rolland, F., and Sheen, J. 2008. KIN10/11 are master regulators of the convergent stress transcriptome. In: Photosynthesis. Energy from the Sun: 14th International Congress on Photosynthesis (J.F. Allen, E. Gantt, J.H. Golbeck & B. Osmond, eds.), Springer, New York, NY, pp. 1337-1344. PDF

Baena-González, E. and Sheen, J. 2008. Convergent energy and stress signaling. Trends in Plant Science. 13: 474-481. PDF

Baena-González, E., Rolland, F., and Sheen, J. 2008. KIN10/11 are master regulators of the convergent stress transcriptome. In: Photosynthesis. Energy from the Sun: 14th International Congress on Photosynthesis (J.F. Allen, E. Gantt, J.H. Golbeck & B. Osmond, eds.), Springer, New York, NY, pp. 1337-1344.

Yoo, S.D., Cho, Y.H., and Sheen, J. 2007. Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts: A versatile cell system for transient gene expression analysis. Nature Protocols, 2: 1565-1575. PDF

Baena-González, E., Rolland, F., Thevelein, J., and Sheen, J. 2007. A central integrator of transcription networks in plant stress and energy signalling. Nature, 448: 938-942. PDF SUPP

Rolland, F., Baena-González, E., and Sheen, J. 2006. Sugar sensing and signaling in plants. Ann. Rev. Plant Biol. 57: 675-709. PDF

Sheen, J. and Kay, S. 2004. Exploring new functions and actions of regulatory molecules. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol.> 7: 487-490. PDF

Leon, P. and Sheen, J. 2003. Sugar and hormone connections. Trends in Plant Science, 8: 110-116. PDF

Moore, B., L., Zhou, L., Rolland, F., Hall, Q., Cheng, W.-H., Liu, Y.-X., Jones, T. L., and Sheen, J. 2003. Role of the Arabidopsis glucose sensor HXK1 in nutrient, light and hormonal signaling. Science, 300: 332-336. PDF

Yanagisawa, S., Yoo, S.-D., and Sheen, J. 2003. Differential regulation of EIN3 stability by glucose and ethylene signaling in plants. Nature, 425: 521-525. PDF

Wan-Hsing Cheng, Akira Endo, Mitsunori Seo, Li Zhou, Jessica Penney, Huei-Chi Chen, Patricia Leon, Eiji Nambara, Tomokazu Koshiba, and Sheen, J. 2002. A Unique Short-Chain Dehydrogenase/Reductase in Arabidopsis ABA Biosynthesis and Glucose Signaling. Plant Cell, 14: 2723-2743. PDF

Rolland, F., Moore, B., and Sheen, J. 2002. Sugar sensing and signaling in plants. A Special Issue on Signal Transduction. Plant Cell: S185-S205. PDF

Tena, G., Asai, T., Chiu, W.-L., and Sheen, J. 2001. Plant MAP kinase signaling cascades. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 4: 392-400. PDF

Sheen, J. 2001. Signal transduction in maize and Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts. Plant Physiol. A special issue on plant systems. 127:1466-1475. PDF

Kovtun, Y., Chiu, W.-L. Tena, G., and Sheen, J. 2000. Functional analysis of oxidative stress-activated MAPK cascade in plants. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97: 2940-2945. PDF

Xiao, W., Sheen, J., and Jang, J-C. 2000. The role of hexokinase in plant sugar signal transduction and growth and development. Plant Mol. Biol.> 44: 451-461 PDF

back to top