U.S.-Germany Collaborative Research on the Biochemistry of Water Stress in Cyanobacteria

该奖项支持弗吉尼亚理工学院和州立大学的马尔科姆·波茨博士与德国康斯坦茨大学植物生物化学和生理学研究所的西格弗里德·谢勒博士进行研究访问。他们正在合作，努力阐明蓝藻耐脱水的分子机制。他们目前工作的具体目标是确定最近分离的‘WSP’基因的特征，了解‘WSP’的转录如何受到水分胁迫的调控，并获得由‘WSP’基因产生的毫克量的水分胁迫蛋白(WSP)，以供未来的结构分析。Scherer博士拥有在培养中生长蓝藻以及进行蛋白质纯化和鉴定的极佳设施。他在理解蓝藻的光合作用、呼吸作用和电子传递方面做出了重大贡献。波茨博士更多地关注水分胁迫耐受性的生理学、生化和遗传学。最近，波茨博士开发了必要的技术，以了解发菜分子生物学的各个方面。水的可获得性限制了所有活细胞的分布和活动。这对管理农业的未来尤其重要。尽管细胞缺水造成了相当大的生化限制，但某些细胞在反复暴露于急性水分胁迫的循环后，仍有能力保持结构和功能的完整性。耐干燥的光合原核生物发菜是一种蓝藻，当它们暴露在重复的干燥和再湿循环中时，它们会积累大量的可溶性蛋白质。这种水分胁迫蛋白(WSP)已被分离、纯化，并在生化水平上进行了部分鉴定。最近，负责编码这种蛋白质的基因已经被分离出来。这是拟议的合作研究的主题。

This award supports Dr. Malcolm Potts of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for a research visit to work with Dr. Siegfried Scherer of the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Physiology of the University of Konstanz, Germany. They are collaborating in an effort to elucidate the molecular mechanisms for desiccation tolerance in cyanobacteria. The specific goals of their current work are to characterize the recently isolated 'wsp' gene, to understand how transcription of 'wsp' is regulated by water stress, and to obtain milligram amounts of the water stress protein (Wsp) produced by the 'wsp' gene for future structural analysis. Dr. Scherer has excellent facilities for the growth of cyanobacteria in culture and for protein purification and characterization. He has made substantial contributions to the understanding of photosynthesis, respiration and electron transport in cyanobacteria. Dr. Potts has focused more on the physiology, biochemistry and genetics of water stress tolerance. Recently, Dr. Potts has developed the necessary techniques to understand aspects of the molecular biology of Nostoc commune. Water availability limits the distribution and the activities of all living cells. It is of particular importance to the future of managed agriculture. Despite the considerable biochemical restraints imposed by a cell-water deficit, certain cells have the capacity to retain both structural and functional integrity after exposure to repeated cycles of acute water stress. Cells of the desiccation-tolerant photosynthetic procaryote Nostoc commune, a cyanobacterium, accumulate massive amounts of a soluble protein when they are exposed to repeated cycles of drying and rewetting. This water stress protein (Wsp) has been isolated, purified, and partially characterized at the biochemical level. Recently, the gene responsible for encoding this protein has been isolated. This is the subject of the proposed collaborative research.