POWRE: Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling High Temperature Adaptation in Plants

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Research supported by this POWRE award will use Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) analysis to understand plant adaptation to high temperature in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The long-term goals are: (1) to identify genes involved in plant adaptation to high temperature during reproduction and other phases of the life cycle, and (2) to test the hypothesis that variation in heat-shock protein (Hsp) structure or expression contributes to genetic variability in plant heat tolerance. Although dramatic progress in genome sequencing has provided the complete genetic blueprint of many organisms, including Arabidopsis, only 5% of sequenced Arabidopsis genes have an established phenotypic function. Thus, defining gene function, particularly as it relates to plant phenotype, remains a major challenge. Genetic variation in Arabidopsis offers an underexploited resource for identifying gene function, which can now be accessed by QTL analysis. QTL analysis allows the genetic dissection of complex traits and is an important new approach not only to identifying gene function, but also for testing long-standing ecological and genetic hypotheses. The proposed studies will be initiated by the P.I. as sabbatical research in the laboratory of Dr. Maarten Koornneef in Wageningen, the Netherlands, where she will learn how to use Arabidopsis for QTL analysis. Application of QTL analysis to the problem of high-temperature tolerance in plants will represent a major new scientific direction for the P.I. that will greatly enhance her research program, in line with the guidelines of the POWRE program. A secondary goal of the sabbatical leave will be to expand and solidify international collaborations with other groups in the U.K. and the Netherlands. In particular, the P.I. will learn current computer methods for modeling the three-dimensional structure of proteins and then use these methods to model the structure of diverse members of the plant small-Hsp protein family. This work will be performed in collaboration with Dr. Christine Slingsby, Birkbeck College, London. POWRE support is essential to realize this unique career opportunity for enhanced training and international collaboration.