Washington, DC
October 3, 2006
Genome-enabled plant biology extends knowledge from model
systems to economically important crops and development of novel
genomic research tools
The
National Science Foundation (NSF) made 24 new awards
totaling $72.5 million in the ninth year of its Plant Genome
Research Program (PGRP). The 2- to 5- year awards--ranging from
$600,000 to $6.6 million--support research and tools to further
knowledge about the genomes of economically important crop
plants such as potato, poplar and corn, and will also reveal how
networks of genes control basic plant processes.
"It is exciting to see the impact of genomics in new areas of
plant biology, research and education" said James Collins, head
of the NSF's Biological Sciences Directorate. "These innovative
new projects will provide the basic discoveries leading to a
greater understanding of how variations in plant genomes
manifest as changes in growth and development in a range of
environments. New discoveries improve the quality and yield of
crops plants, and in the long term, lead to innovations that
will support the bio-based economy of the 21st Century".
The wealth of genomic knowledge and tools generated over the
past 8 years of the PGRP will now enable researchers to uncover
networks of genes that regulate plant development in response to
environmental signals such as light, for example:
To potentially broaden the geographic growing range of crops,
which is in part controlled by available sunlight, researchers
at Dartmouth College are investigating how gene networks in
Brassica, a genus of plants that includes broccoli, cauliflower
and mustard, function to detect light cues and trigger floral
development.
Scientists at Oregon State University will study the
relationship between a plant's gene networks, its molecular
machinery and light absorption using the recently reported rice
and poplar tree genome sequences as guides.
So-called "model plants" typically have "no frills" genomes and
a short lifecycle that make basic genetic studies feasible.
Information from model plants can then be exploited to better
understand more complex crop plants. Two such examples are rice,
a model for the cereals, and barrel medic, a model for legumes,
a plant family that includes soybeans, peanuts, peas and
alfalfa. Several new PGRP-supported projects will extend the
knowledge gained from the sequenced genomes of rice and barrel
medic, for example:
The genomes of the cultivated rice species and its wild
ancestral relative vary considerably. Investigators at Cornell
University have found that introducing certain "wild genes" into
the cultivated species confers superior performance for a
variety of traits, including flowering time, seed size and seed
number. They will further examine how different combinations of
variant genes leads to enhanced qualities, or so-called "hybrid
vigor."
Comparative genome tools developed by researchers at the
University of California, Davis, will enable researchers to
rapidly pinpoint genes for disease resistance in legumes using
the barrel medic genome sequence as a reference. Among others,
these tools will be used to study chickpea, cowpea and
pigeonpea--important staple crops in India and Africa--through a
developing country collaboration with the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India.
Established in 1998 as part of the
coordinated National Plant Genome Initiative by the Interagency
Working Group on Plant Genomes of the National Science and
Technology Council, the PGRP has a long-term goal of uncovering
basic biological principles that will advance our understanding
of the structure and function of genomes of plants of economic
importance.
The new awards, made to 43 institutions in 30 states, include 10
international collaborations. First-time PGRP award recipients
include Duke University, South Dakota State University, Tuskegee
University and the University of Arkansas.
Fiscal Year 2006 Awards
National Science Foundation
Plant Genome Research Program
Genome-Enabled Plant Research (GEPR)
Translating Research from Model Systems (TRMS)
Tools and Resources for Plant Genome Research
(TRPGR)
|
|
Award # |
Principal Investigator |
Institution |
Title |
Total Award ($) |
Total Duration (Years) |
|
0606873 |
Benfey,
Philip |
Duke University |
Genomic Approaches to Identify Genes for Root System
Architecture Traits |
$749,862 |
2 |
|
0606909 |
Brendel,
Volker |
Iowa State University
University of South Dakota* |
Cyberinfrastructure
for (Comparative) Plant Genome Research Through
PlantGDB |
$3,469,595 |
4 |
|
0604907 |
Buell, C. Robin |
Institute for Genomic Research
Washington State University* |
Generation of Potato Sequence and Annotation
Resources |
$3,023,461 |
3 |
|
0606666 |
Cohen, Jerry D. |
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities |
Global Measurement of Turnover of Plant Proteins |
$621,222 |
2 |
|
0605059 |
Collmer,
Alan |
Cornell University
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research* |
Exploiting Tomato Genomics Resources to Investigate
Basal Plant Defenses Against Pathogens |
$2,500,000 |
4 |
|
0605251 |
Cook, Douglas R. |
University of California-Davis |
Comparative Genomics of Legume Disease Resistance
Gene Homologs |
$4,959,892 |
4 |
|
0605017 |
Dean, Ralph A. |
North Carolina State University
Texas A&M Research Foundation*
University of Arkansas* |
A
High Throughput Protoplast System for Rice
Functional Genomics and Proteomics: Protein-Protein
Interactions at the Host-Pathogen Interface |
$2,345,271 |
3 |
|
0605033 |
Dixon, Richard |
Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
University of Minnesota* |
A
Genomics Approach to the Synthesis and Secretion of
Bioactive Plant Natural Products |
$1,406,599 |
3 |
|
0604755 |
Fennell, Anne |
South Dakota State University
University of Nevada-Reno*
Boston University*
Iowa State University* |
Functional Genomics of Bud
Endodormancy Induction in Grapevines (Vitis) |
$3,003,610 |
4 |
|
0604923 |
Hake, Sarah |
University of California-Berkeley
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory*
University of Missouri-Saint Louis*
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign*
University of California-San Diego* |
Genetic Mechanisms Regulating Inflorescence
Architecture in Maize and Other Cereals |
$5,921,712 |
5 |
|
0603927 |
Jiang, Jiming |
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Arizona*
Purdue University* |
Comparative Genomics of a Rice
Centromere |
$3,683,377 |
5 |
|
0604336 |
Last, Robert L. |
Michigan State University
University of Arizona*
University of Michigan* |
Building and Operating a Chemical Factory in
Solanum Species |
$3,696,295 |
3 |
|
0605736 |
McClung, C. Robertson |
Dartmouth College
University of Wisconsin*
University of Minnesota* |
Genetic Analysis of Natural Variation in the Control
of Flowering Timing and Inflorescence Architecture
in Brassica
rapa |
$3,079,565 |
4 |
|
0608405 |
McCombie,
W. Richard |
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
University of Delaware* |
Characterization of Rice Genomes and
Transcriptomes Using
Novel Sequencing Technologies |
$3,021,987 |
3 |
|
0606461 |
McCouch,
Susan R. |
Cornell University
University of Arizona*
Texas A&M Research Foundation* |
Exploring the Genetic Basis of
Transgressive Variation in Rice |
$5,481,557 |
4 |
|
0605240 |
Mockler,
Todd C. |
Oregon Stat University
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies*
The Scripps Research Institute* |
Comparative Genomic Analysis of Diurnal and
Circadian Gene Expression Regulation |
$1,425,485 |
3 |
|
0605016 |
Okita,
Thomas W. |
Washington State University |
An
Integrated Genomic, Proteomic and Cytological
Approach to Understand the Function of
Cytoplasmic Localized,
Cytoskeletal-Associated
RNA-Binding Proteins in Rice |
$2,185,775 |
5 |
|
0606595 |
Rose, Jocelyn K. |
Cornell University |
Characterization of the Tomato
Secretome Using Integrated Functional and
Computational Strategies |
$3,627,035 |
5 |
|
0605135 |
Sederoff,
Ronald |
North Carolina State University
Clemson University*
American Chestnut Foundation* |
Genomic Tool Development for the
Fagaceae |
$2,732,025 |
4 |
|
0606607 |
Settles, Andrew M. |
University of Florida |
Dosage Dependent Genes Affecting Seed Composition
and Weight |
$1,227,302 |
4 |
|
0604439 |
Thelen,
Jay J. |
University of Missouri-Columbia |
Identification and Absolute
Quantitation of Protein
Phosphorylation Networks in Oilseeds |
$1,999,479 |
5 |
|
0604765 |
Weil, Clifford F. |
Purdue University |
The
Maize TILLING Project: Reverse Genetics of Maize
Point Mutations |
$1,617,351 |
2 |
|
0607123 |
Wessler,
Susan R. |
University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
Michigan State University*
Purdue University* |
Maize Transposable Elements: Discovery, Description
and Functional Characterization |
$4,108,008 |
5 |
|
0604966 |
Young, Nevin D. |
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Oklahoma*
Institute for Genomic Research* |
Completing the Sequence of
Medicago
truncatula’s
Gene-Rich Euchromatin |
$6,590,671 |
2 |
|
National Science Foundation
Plant Genome Research Program
Maize Genome Sequencing Project (NSF/DOE/USDA Joint
Program) |
|
Award # |
Principal Investigator |
Institution |
Title |
Total Award ($) |
Total Duration (Years) |
|
0527192 |
Wilson, Richard |
Washington University |
Sequencing the Maize Genome |
$29,450,001 |
3 |
A complete list of PGRP
awards since 1998:
http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/awards/pgr.htm. |
