Successful seed germination in plants relies upon the mobilization of nutrients from storage reserves to the growing embryo. Oligopeptide Transporters are proteins that reside in cell membranes and translocate small proteins into cells. The central question of this study is to determine if specific Oligopeptide Transporters play a key role in rice seed germination by unloading amino acids efficiently and rapidly from storage reserves to the embryo for protein synthesis. A combination of biochemical and molecular techniques will be used to ascertain where each individual Oligopeptide Transporter is located in the germinating seed, to determine the subset of small proteins that each transporter mobilizes, and to elucidate how each transporter is activated during germination. This approach will identify the contribution that Oligopeptide Transporters play in seed germination by identifying what each transports, where it transports, and how it is activated. The broader impact of this work is that it has the potential to affect plant reproductive success through increasing our understanding of amino acid unloading and could enhance future breeding practices and transgenic technologies in cereal crops. Furthermore, this study will have a large training component since the majority of the work will be completed by undergraduate researchers working at Saint Michael's College, the University of Tennessee, and City University of New York at Staten Island.
