# Genetic Biochemical Studies of Signaling in Growth and Acclimation

> **NIH NIH R01** · CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, D.C. · 2024 · $604,743

## Abstract

The long-term goal of this project is to understand the molecular networks through which
hormones, environmental signals, and nutrients together control plant growth and development. As
sessile organisms, plants have evolved complex and robust cellular signaling systems to regulate
growth and metabolism according to internal status and environmental conditions. Dissecting these
plant regulatory systems not only is important for crop resilience and food security but also can
improve human health, as many signaling mechanisms are highly conserved in plants, humans,
and human parasites. This research project aims to dissect the cellular signaling and regulatory
networks that integrate hormonal, metabolic, and environmental signals. To gain a comprehensive
understanding of the complex system, we integrate a broad range of research approaches
including genetics, genomics, proteomics, structural biology, cell biology, and chemical proteomic
approaches. We also use both muti-cellular and single-cellular model systems (Arabidopsis and
Chlamydomonas) to gain insight into the conserved mechanisms such as cell cycle regulation and
the evolution of inter-cellular signaling mechanisms underlying cell-cell communication,
development, and morphogenesis. In the past two decades, we have elucidated molecular
mechanisms by which the brassinosteroid (BR) hormone acts through the cell surface receptor
kinase BRI1 and its downstream phosphorylation cascade to regulate gene expression and plant
growth, cross-talks with other signaling pathways to regulate development and environmental
responses, and intersects with sugar-signaling pathways to optimize growth and acclimation. We
have also discovered signaling mechanisms that regulate cell division, elongation, differentiation,
and innate immunity. Furthermore, we have recently generated proteomic maps of the
nutrient/sugar-sensing O-glycosylation (O-GlcNAc and O-fucose) pathways and discovered their
convergence with the BR-regulated phosphorylation pathway. Our research elucidates a signal-
processing network that controls plant growth according to nutrient/sugar availability, hormonal
instructions, and environmental cues, and increases our molecular insight into signaling
mechanisms involving protein-protein interactions and protein modifications by phosphorylation
and glycosylation. We focus on proteins that are conserved in humans or human parasites, and
thus our research also informs medical research. Our research will benefit human well-being by
improving food security, environmental sustainability, and drug development/discovery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10981571
- **Project number:** 2R01GM066258-22A1
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
- **Principal Investigator:** ZHIYONG WANG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $604,743
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2002-08-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10981571

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10981571, Genetic Biochemical Studies of Signaling in Growth and Acclimation (2R01GM066258-22A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10981571. Licensed CC0.

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