RUI: (LiT): Mitigation of Dehydration-Induced Nanomechanical Failure in Arabidopsis

Villanova University, Villanova PA

Investigators

Abstract

Names: Ronald A. Balsamo and Bradley E. Layton Proposal Number: 0950374 Project Title: RUI: (LiT): Mitigation of Dehydration-Induced Nanomechanical Failure in Arabidopsis The purpose of this project is to investigate how individual genes of a model organism, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, contribute to its ability to survive drought conditions. As the world's population continues to climb and agricultural resources are at a premium, the need to develop crops becomes paramount. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that have evolved that enable plants to survive drought will prove to have increasing importance as global weather patterns continue to become more uncertain. Arabidopsis thaliana was selected for several reasons: 1) Its genome has been fully sequenced; 2) There are well-established stocks of mutants with individual genes knocked out or enhanced; 3) It has a rapid generation time (seed to seed); 4) Large quantities of plant materials can be grown under laboratory conditions; 5) There is a rich literature on its anatomy, physiology and its genetics; 6) It represents a class of plants that may have formed a bridge between ancestral desiccation-tolerant species and the C4 crops that are now largely responsible for feeding the world's human population; and 7) The plant body is small enough to allow the entire plant may be imaged inside an environmental scanning electron microscope. In order to gain a deeper comprehension of how water loss affects cell and cell wall deformation, the individual mechanical contributions that specific cell wall components (lignin, cellulose, xylose, fucose, arabinose, and rhamnose) make to plant survival under drought conditions will be investigated. These findings have the potential to direct future efforts in plant breeding and engineering of more drought-tolerant species. The funding from this proposal will be used to mentor undergraduate students from Villanova University and Drexel University, as well as through a two-week summer program for local high school teachers.