GDCB Professor Yanhai Yin has been awarded sponsored funding by the NSF for his research project entitled, Signaling Network for Brassinosteroid (BRs)-Regulated Gene Expression in Arabidopsis.  Dr. Yin is the principal investigator on the project and Dr. Srinivas Aluru and Dr. Maneesha Aluru of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at ISU are co-principal investigators.

Dr. Yin and his research team will use genetic, genomic, and computational approaches to establish gene regulatory networks through which BRs control the expression of the large number of genes for plant growth and stress tolerance.  While the genetic and genomic studies will define the gene functions, the computational approach is required to build models for how hundreds to thousands of genes coordinate to carry out specific functions.  The combination of functional genomic studies and computational modeling in establishing and validating transcriptional networks in hormone signaling is anticipated to provide unprecedented new insights into BR signaling network.

The knowledge gained from this project can be applied to agriculture to increase crop production. Moreover, the computational and bioinformatic tools developed and validated in the context of this project will be applicable to other systems biology studies.

The research will also provide outstanding training opportunities at the interface of functional genomics and computational modeling for graduate and undergraduate students. The team will work with ISU pre-college education director Dr. Adah Leshem to recruit high school teachers to participate in the research. The team will also work with Dr. David Vleck, Dr. Bing Yang and Dr. Chanda Skelton to introduce BR mutants to an undergraduate laboratory course (BIOL212), in which undergraduate students will design and perform experiments to learn how plant steroid hormones control plant growth.