Louis A Sherman - US grants

The purpose of this proposal is to understand the relationship between membrane architecture and function in photosynthetic membranes. Our approach will be via discrete, yet correlative, techniques using the unicellular, transformable cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans R2. The emphasis will be on Photosystem II and the oxygen-evolving apparatus. Our strategy will consist of seven major experimental techniques: (1) the isolation and characterization of an oxygen-evolving complex that contains Photosystem II and phycobilisomes; (2) site-specific labeling and cross-linking of proteins to determine their position in the membrane; (3) reconstitution of photosynthetic electron transport from H2O to NADP+ in liposomes using isolated complexes; (4) isolation of photosynthetic mutants and herbicide-resistant mutants. In addition to temperature-sensitive mutants, strains will be isolated that must be maintained by heterotrophic growth; (5) complementation analysis with cloned genes; (6) cloned photosynthesis genes will be used for biochemical and genetic experiments; and (7) fluorescence analysis of chlorophyllprotein complexes in normal and developing cells. This project is a combined genetic and biochemical study of membrane structure and function and is thus of great benefit to membrane biology in general. The specific information that should be obtained from this proposal includes: (1) the protein composition of the major membrane complexes, such as the O2-evolving apparatus and chlorophyll-proteins; (2) the precise location of proteins in the membrane; (3) the effects of mutation on membrane structure and function; (4) the effect of adding cloned photosynthesis genes to wild-type and mutant cells; (5) the identity of genes coding for photosynthetic proteins; (6) the identity of the chlorophyll components that give rise to the 77 K fluorescence emission peaks; and (7) the mechanism of membrane assembly in iron-deficient cells after iron addition and in heterotrophic cells after light induction. The combination of biochemistry and genetics makes A. nidulans a very valuable organism for the study of bioenergetics and membrane structure.

9987576
Marie Thursby - Purdue University
IGERT: Innovation Realization Laboratory: Integrating Science and Engineering with Economics and Management

This Integrative Graduate education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on the realization of innovation. The innovation Realization Lab (IRL) is designed to: (1) graduate Ph.D.s in science and engineering who are technically proficient and understand economic and management principles critical to industrial research and development; (2) produce science and engineering thesis research of scientific merit and market relevance, and (3) train management graduate students in research and development project management. Faculty from six graduate programs (Plant Biology, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Management and Mechanical Engineering) will develop this unique approach to graduate education. Thirty NSF-funded Ph.D. students and their major professors will be teamed with faculty and 30 Purdue University-funded Master of Science students from the School of Management to engage in collaborative technical and market research concerning potential market applications of the Ph.D. students' research. Complementary classes, workshops, and industry internships will introduce students to intellectual property, business, regulatory, and ethical issues that are critical to the industrial application of fundamental research in science and engineering. The IRL experience will provide learning by doing in commercialization and behavioral aspects of project management -- preparing Ph.D. for varied entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial careers as leaders in the realization of innovation.


IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of education Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the third year of the program, awards are being made to nineteen institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Engineering; Biological Sciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; and Education and Human Resources.

0137409
Sherman

This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on microbial and plant metabolism--function through genomics to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii from November 22-26, 2002. The co-organizers are Professor Louis Sherman of Purdue University in Indiana and Professor Yuichiro Takahashi of Okayama University in Japan. The meeting will cover the extraordinary progress that has been made in the last two years in sequencing of the genomes of photosynthetic microbes, especially cyanobacteria. Over one dozen strains will have been sequenced by the meeting and this will lead to a wide array of new findings in many different disciplines and also in our understanding of gene regulation. Two of the newly sequenced organisms include Prochlorococcus strains that are of tremendous importance in the open ocean and may be the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on the planet. Two others are N2-fixing strains that will provide a tremendous opportunity to analyze N2 fixation, heterocyst development and the way in which these processes are regulated.

The significance of the science to be discussed at this meeting is quite wide-ranging. The cyanobacteria and the other photosynthetic phototrophs have become among the most important of all model organisms and that a multitude of important problems for the biosphere can be studied through these organisms. This meeting will represent a timely opportunity for the major participants in this broad field of genomics to discuss their results, discuss the successes and the difficulties of recent work and focus on future directions. Younger members of the community will be invited into the international collaboration and hopefully maintain research collaborations throughout their careers. Most importantly, cyanobacteria represent one of the best and most advanced model systems for understanding the functionality of each protein in a cell. Results obtained from this photosynthetic microbe will be of great value for the Arabidopsis program aimed at the same goal. The cyanobacterial results will be significant for an understanding of chloroplast function as well as providing critical information on how a cell lives, replicates, and responds to its environment. Proceedings of the seminar will be published on the Web.

This award supports the Midwest Photosynthesis meeting on "Photosynthesis Research in the Post Genomic World" that will be held at the Turkey Run State Park, Marshall, IN from October 27-29, 2002. The intent of this meeting has been to foster interaction and cooperation among laboratories in the midwest involved with photosynthesis research and to provide a forum for oral and poster presentations by graduate students and post-doctoral scholars. In this regard, the annual meeting has been exquisitely successful and a large number of the students and post docs have gone on to successful scientific careers. Many have continued research in photosynthesis and have established laboratories around the country. Traditionally this meeting has emphasized biochemistry, biophysics, plant physiology and bioenergetics. This support will allow development of a meeting around new technologies inherent in genomics and structural biology and new approaches in systems biology. By bringing together photosynthetic researchers from around the country who are utilizing high throughput technologies and computational analyses for the study of photosynthesis or related topics, this forward looking meeting that will expose the participants to post-genomic systems biology. This support will broaden the range of participants and provide travel and living expenses for undergraduate students and will enhance the diversity of the participants.

The conversion of the early reducing environment to the present oxidizing atmosphere is attributed to the ability of the cyanobacteria to perform oxygenic photosynthesis. These photoautotrophic organisms are the only group of prokaryotes that split water molecules and release oxygen in the atmosphere. Cyanobacteria can be utilized in multiple applications, including the harvesting and conversion of solar energy as a renewable feedstock for the production of chemicals, fuels and other valuable products. An added benefit is the potential capture and reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In many ways, cyanobacteria exemplify a low-cost and renewable power plant. However, substantial research is required for the realization of this enormous potential. The major challenges are the inherently low energy flux of solar energy in large cultures, low rate of photosynthesis and slow rate of growth of various cyanobacteria. In addition, it is critical to understand how to regulate the flow of metabolites, especially as cultures are grown in large-scale open ponds and are subjected to natural dark-light cycles. Therefore, the major objective of the workshop would be to highlight the current state of fundamental and applied research on cyanobacteria and to identify solution for key challenges. The workshop would result in a white paper that outlines the recommended path forward for research among the researchers in the two countries. The workshop format is based on two technical sessions each dedicated to a particular aspect of cyanobacterial research. The technical sessions are proposed to consist of talks by invited speakers, short talks from selected participants, followed by a panel discussion. Additionally, poster sessions and breakout sessions will provide opportunities for informal one-on-one interaction among the participants that will lead to action plans for future applied and basic research. The workshop will also provide a platform for direct interactions between academic and industrial researchers to better understand and enhance the possibilities of collaborative research activities between the two sections. To this end, the organizers propose to invite several researchers from industry and other stakeholders to participate in panel discussions.

In summary, the goal of this workshop is to bring together the best scientists from disparate backgrounds and fields of research and to encourage collaboration between US/Indian scientists to work on cyanobacteria with the expectation that the joint effort will generate new fundamental findings that can be exploited to spawn bioeconomic growth particularly in sustainable bioenergy production.