This award will support Professor Champa Sengupta-Gopalan of New Mexico State University (NMSU) in a research collaboration with Professor Georgina Hernandez of the Nitrogen Fixation Research Center in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The main objective of the research is to determine the molecular and biochemical basis for the increased nodulation, elevated overall N2 fixation, and increased growth of alfalfa plants whose rhizospere is infested with the soil micro-organism P. syringae pv. tabaci. Alfalfa is a major forage crop in both Mexico and the U.S. and is well adapted to arid and irrigated agriculture in both nations. An understanding of the exact mechanisms that influence symbiotic nitrogen fixation will allow the development of genetically engineered alfalfa plants for increased N2 fixation capability. For this research, various gene constructs will be made at NMSU and Cuernavaca, and the nodulation biology will be performed at both laboratories. In addition, all the biochemical characterization of the mutant plants will be done at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
