POWRE: The Origin of the Plant Small Heat Shock Proteins

San Diego State University Foundation, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

Plants first inhabited land approximately 450 million years ago. The adaptations in plant form that accompanied the movement of plants to land have been well studied. Much less is known about the physiological changes or adaptations that accompanied this important event. This project will focus on the origin of the small heat shock protein family in plants, and the question of whether diversification in these small heat shock proteins was associated with movement onto land. All organisms have a heat shock response. Heat shock proteins are produced when organisms are exposed to high temperatures and, through interactions with other proteins, the heat shock proteins enable organisms to withstand and survive high-temperature stress. In land plants the small heat shock proteins are a particularly important component of the heat shock response, making up the bulk of the protein produced during heat shock. Compared to the small heat shock proteins of other organisms, the plant small heat shock proteins are also unusually diverse. Using cDNA cloning and PCR techniques the PI will examine the small heat shock protein genes of Charophytes (a group of algae) and Bryophytes (hornworts, liverworts, and mosses; the most ancient lineages of land plants). The PI will determine if the small heat shock proteins increased in number and changed in amino acid sequence during the time period that plants first inhabited land. This POWRE award will enable Dr. Waters to continue her independent research career and to attend to family needs by supporting her as a visiting scientist at the University of California, San Diego.