9311978 Wang This award will support an eighteen month grant under the NSF CGP (Center for Global Partnership) Science Fellowship Program for Dr. Gamin M. Wang, Cellular and Molecular Biology Division, SRI International, Menlo Park, California. Dr. Wang will undertake a six month cooperative research project with Dr. Yasuyuki Yamada, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Kyoto University in Japan. The research objective is to develop a scalable, in vitro, differentiated plant cell culture system for production of rose oil from Rosaceae. Floral organs are the source of numerous valuable secondary metabolic products, including spices, dyes, medicinal products, and fragrances (such as rose oil). Differentiation of floral organs from various types of plant tissue cultures has been accomplished in several species of plants, but this approach has not been widely used with Rosa species. In the proposed research, two techniques will be tested. The first method is based on a scheme designed to promote proliferation of floral organs, i.e., stigmas, from partially differentiated stigmas of tobacco. The second was originally designed to differentiate flowers directly from thin layer tissue explants, also from tobacco. The collaborative aspects of the research will focus on modification of the growth media, hormones, and other environmental inputs necessary to optimize induction and differentiation of floral organs of Rosa with these basic schemes. Once flowers are formed, it will then be possible to analyze them for their rose oil content. Results of the research should facilitate the development and production of desirable secondary product components. Dr. Yamada is a wo rld renowned leader in the field of plant tissue culture for secondary metabolite production and his laboratory at Kyoto University is well equipped for the research project. Dr. Wang also has considerable expertise in this area and it is anticipated that a fruitful collaboration will result with continued cooperation at the completion of the formal agreement.
