This award provides aid in the construction of plant growth facilities to be shared by a group of investigators who do biochemical and genetic research on corn and Arabidopsis. Growth facilities that provide reproducible conditions for plants are crucial to the kinds of careful, quantitative analysis needed for the effective use of plants in modern biology. Moreover, such facilities increase the productivity of plant researchers since the growing season for plants like maize can be extended to cover the fall and winter months. The award will augment the capacity for growth of corn at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory by 50% and will provide for an even greater augmentation for growth of Arabidopsis, a plant particularly well suited to basic studies of plant growth, development and reproduction.
