4608:
Investigating the Functional Roles of Genes Involved in Early, Middle and Late Rubus Prickle Development

Monday, August 2, 2010
Springs F & G
Meghan Thompson , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Danielle Tippit , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Kayla Hill , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Benjamin Magie , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Allicia Kellogg , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Coleman Little , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Nathan Jones , Biology, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
John-David Swanson, Ph.D. , Dept. of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, University of Arkansas, Conway, AK
Prickles are outgrowths of epidermal and sometimes cortical plant tissue that develop from a signaling cascade initiated by the head of glandular trichomes.  These signals result in the division and growth of epidermal and underlying cortical cells.  Due to the simplicity of their structure, prickle development is an ideal model to investigate how cells communicate to control growth, proliferation, and morphological differentiation.  Understanding these modes of cellular communication could lead to significant insights to all developmental pathways including those in mammals.  We are currently analyzing gene candidates and their function in prickle development to better understand the role of trichomes in prickle development.  To this end, we hypothesize that lignification marks the end of prickle development.  PAL 1 and PAL 2 are known to play a role in the lignification pathway, and have been targeted for functional analysis in this study due to their potential as stop signals in prickle development.   We have also hypothesized that GL1 and GIS are involved in promoting early trichome and thus prickle initiation in Rubus.  SIM is hypothesized to also play a significant role in endoreduplication and subsequent trichome development.  To this end, we are currently identifying orthologous ESTs (expressed sequence tags) from the trichome developmental pathway of Arabidopsis, Fragaria, and Medicago using a degenerate primer method.  We have thus far identified several genes from Rubus, our prickle development model plant.  Using these orthologous EST sequences we are carrying out functional analysis using in situ hybridization (ISH).  One complicating factor is sectioning tissue at the exact point of the occurrence of a glandular trichome is difficult; therefore, we have initiated the investigation of whole mount ISH allowing us to look at the entire epidermal surface of the tissue rather than sections. Together, these data will provide insight as to the potential signaling pathways involved in prickle development.
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