This award is for the acquisition of plant growth chambers for the university's Plant Growth Facility, which is used by faculty, post-docs and students across 3 departments. Researchers associated with this facility have a strong research and education focus on plant evolution, ecology and functional genomics. Their research programs include (1) plant evolutionary ecophysiology - the evolution of low nutrient stress tolerance and desert adaptations, (2) ecological genetics - the genetic basis of adaptive evolution, (3) molecular and evolutionary genetics - comparative structural and functional genomics in grasses, (3) evolutionary genomics - the evolution of genome structure, genes and gene families in higher plants, and (4) plant cell and molecular biology - mechanisms controlling cell differentiation, morphogenesis and wall formation in plants. The growth chambers will also facilitate the research of at least 7 additional users in the evolutionary genetic/genomic community.
The growth chambers will contribute to the current research training of 25 undergraduate students, 32 graduate students, and 18 postdocs in the research labs of 5 major users and 7 additional users. This training will continue the university's strong tradition of mentoring minorities and underrepresented groups in the biological sciences. The growth chambers will also be available for laboratory exercises for inquiry-based labs in several undergraduate and graduate classes. Finally, the growth chambers will facilitate the further development of model plant systems for evolutionary, ecological, and functional genomics: Arabidopsis and crops and their wild relatives (e.g. Helianthus, wheat, pearl millet, finger millet, tef, sorghum, and maize).
