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

这个奖项支持弗吉尼亚理工大学的马尔科姆·波茨博士 研究所和州立大学进行研究访问工作 与植物研究所的齐格弗里德谢勒博士 康斯坦茨大学生物化学和生理学， 德国。 他们正在合作， 植物耐脱水的分子机制 蓝藻 他们目前工作的具体目标是 来描述最近分离的wsp基因， “wsp”的转录如何受水分胁迫的调节， 以获得毫克量的水分胁迫蛋白（Wsp）， 用于将来的结构分析。 谢勒博士拥有优良的设施， 培养的蓝细菌和用于蛋白质纯化， 特征化 他为以下方面做出了巨大贡献： 对光合作用、呼吸作用和电子的理解 蓝藻的运输。 波茨博士更关注 水分胁迫的生理生化和遗传学 宽容 最近，波茨博士开发了必要的 技术来了解分子生物学的各个方面， 地木耳。 水的供应限制了分布和活动 所有的活细胞。 这对我们来说尤其重要。 管理农业的未来 尽管相当大的 由细胞水分不足引起的生化限制， 某些细胞具有保留结构和功能的能力， 暴露于以下重复循环后的功能完整性 急性缺水 耐脱水细胞 光合原核植物普通念珠藻，一种蓝细菌， 积累大量的可溶性蛋白质， 暴露于反复的干燥和再润湿循环。 这 水分胁迫蛋白（Wsp）已被分离，纯化， 在生化水平上部分表征。 最近， 负责编码这种蛋白质的基因 与世隔绝 这是拟议合作的主题。 research.

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.