Plant genome research: The predicted changes in atmospheric CO2
levels and climate are expected to pose many challenges for plants
and how plants respond to these changing environmental stressors are
of great interest given the importance of plant materials, biofuels
and food production. The National Science Foundation has recently
awarded a five-year, $6.2 million dollar genome grant to a
consortium from the University of Missouri, Purdue University,
University of Florida, University of Nebraska, Saint Michael's
College, and VT EPSCoR, to better our understanding of how CO2
captured in leaves through photosynthesis is distributed throughout
the plant. Over the next five years, the $766,000 dollars awarded to
Professor Mark Lubkowitz at Saint Michael's College will allow 40
undergraduate students to participate in this project.
Photosynthesis uses light energy to convert CO2 into
carbohydrates that are then distributed to the rest of the plant
through the phloem. Even though quite a bit is known about
photosynthesis, remarkably little is known about the molecular and
genetic components that regulate the movement of sugars throughout
the plant. Transport through the phloem is analogous to traffic on
the interstate. The speed at which traffic moves is a function of
the on-ramps, off-ramps, and width of the interstate. Through this
grant we will be examining the genes that control the phloem�s on-
and off-ramps to better understand how sugar �traffic� moves
throughout the plant and to determine where the bottlenecks reside.
Professor Lubkowitz�s Molecular Biology course will play an
integral part in identifying genes involved in phloem function in
partnership with a laboratory at the University of Florida. The
Florida-based research group is generating a list of potential genes
involved in phloem function through laser-capture-microdissection
which will be characterized by students enrolled in the SMC
Molecular Biology course. Each student will be assigned five
candidate genes to characterize over the semester using
bioinformatics and molecular biology tools. Eight of these students
will continue with the project over the summer by working at one of
the partner laboratories at Purdue, University of Missouri, or the
University of Florida. Professor Lubkowitz will also be coordinating
a week-long summer workshop for groups of high school teachers and
students. Teams consisting of one teacher and two high school
students will spend a week at Saint Michael's College learning about
the importance of carbohydrate partitioning through analyzing maple
sap and energy potential in various biofuels.
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