This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-15).
Intellectual merit
The long-term goal of this activity is to define novel, critical components required for the assembly of photosynthetic membranes. Photosynthesis is the major mechanism of solar energy capture in the biosphere, providing organic carbon for food, fuel and fiber. This research will pursue an important series of experiments to address the role of two proteins potentially required for thiol-redox chemistry in the thylakoid lumen. As thylakoids are essential to photosynthesis, defining how they are assembled and maintained, represents research fundamental to energy generation in the biosphere. This research is an emerging frontier in the biology of photosynthesis, and could also have impact on chloroplast metabolic engineering in agriculture. The proposed research will investigate two proteins that have been identified as potentially involved in thiol redox chemistry in the thylakoid lumen, using Chlamydomonas as a study organism. CCS5 is a lumen-facing thioredoxin-like protein implicated in assembly of the heme proteins cytochrome f and c6. The first aim will examine the redox potentials of CCS5 and the target proteins, test CCS5 for disulfide reductase activity, and determine the interaction of CCS5 and targets in vivo. The second aim will investigate LTO1, a candidate thiol-oxidizing protein. Biochemical and molecular genetic experiments will determine if the protein has the hypothesized activity. The emergence of thiol-reducing and thiol-oxidizing components for the manufacture of the thylakoid compartment is a recent and novel development in the field of membrane biogenesis.
Broader impact:
A central aspect of this project is its impact on undergraduate and graduate education, as well as curriculum enrichment. The proposed research employs advanced molecular genetic and biochemical approaches that will serve as the basis for training students in the fundamental area of organelle biology. In outreach efforts to offer summer research experiences to undergraduates with limited research opportunities, the PI has established a partnership with Transylvania University in rural Kentucky. In addition, the PI is developing a unique plan for educational outreach beyond institutional boundaries. This plan will target migrant high school students in Ohio, a Hispanic minority, academically neglected due to a mobile lifestyle. The PI will engage migrant students and teachers from a rural high school in various activities with the objective to encourage the target population to pursue post-secondary education in the sciences.
