RUI: Comparative Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis of Phytochrome Responses in Tomato

University Of Puget Sound, Tacoma WA

Investigators

Abstract

PI: Andreas Madlung (University of Puget Sound) Senior Collaborators: Lars Tomanek (California Polytechnical University - San Luis Obispo) and Lukas Mueller (Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research) Plants respond both to external environmental and internal signals to optimize physiological processes that allow them to access water and nutrients from the ground and optimally orient their bodies for photosynthesis in three-dimensional space. Many developmental decisions are made within the first hours of emergence of the seedling from the ground. These decisions are in direct response to the seedling's environment, particularly with respect to the available light. Both light quantity and quality are sensed using elaborate light receptor mechanisms, which translate the obtained information into various growth responses. One of these light receptors is called phytochrome, which consists of a light-sensing molecule called the chromophore and an attached protein called the apoprotein. A small family of genes encodes multiple types of phytochrome apoproteins that can bind to additional identical or very similar molecules. These protein complexes can bind to DNA and direct the transcription of genes, thus ultimately allowing for a multitude of physiological responses in the plant. This project will use a genome wide approach to directly compare transcriptional and proteomic changes in tomato seedlings and several phytochrome mutants during early development. It is expected that this project will reveal novel functions of the lesser-studied phytochrome genes, and identify new interactions of light-response genes, both on the transcript and the protein level during early seedling responses to light. Tomato is both a major agronomic crop and a model organism for the study of fleshy fruits. Understanding the molecular underpinnings of light-mediated responses during seedling establishment may in the future improve breeding or engineering of plants with enhanced structural integrity, optimized architecture, earlier (or later) flowering, and increased yield. Work on this project will be conducted primarily by undergraduates, and explicitly include students currently underrepresented in the sciences through a collaboration with Heritage University, a minority serving institution in central Washington. This project will provide these students with research experiences and training opportunities. Training workshops in molecular biology will also be held in rural Washington State to enhance educational opportunities in this remote area. Biological materials generated by this project will be publically available from the lead institution on request. Raw data will be made available to the public via appropriate, freely accessible repositories that include the NCBI Short Read Archive (SRA; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra/) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) and the Sol Genomics Network (SGN; http://solgenomics.net/).