This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.
The research and training plan is entitled "Investigating Intercellular and Inter-kingdom Communication in the Phyllosphere." Quorum-sensing, or cell-to-cell signaling mediated by secreted N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), occurs between bacterial epiphytes of plant aerial leaf surfaces, in the habitat called the phyllosphere. This research examines the regulation and disposition of secreted AHLs in intercellular bacterial communication, and investigates AHL-mediated inter-kingdom communication with host plants. The merging of microbiology and plant biology research techniques are a primary training goal.
