This award supports the purchase of three instruments to be used together for functional genomics studies, a new area of biological research focused on discovery and characterization of genes, gene products, and their associated functions. Such studies, which are now well underway for many microbes, plants, and animals, typically require access to high-throughput instrumentation for detailed analysis of DNA, RNA and protein. The instruments to be purchased will be used for high-throughput real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses of gene expression, measurement of nucleic acids and proteins using state of the art lab-on-a-chip technology, and identification of new and known proteins through coupled liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry. Research programs expected to take advantage of the equipment include studies of plant-microbe interactions in several plants, epigenetic regulation of gene expression in maize, gene regulation in oats, evolutionary genomics of plant development, and effect of sugars on plant metabolic pathways. The instruments will be located in a central facility that insures instrument access for over 100 research groups, including faculty and students.
