NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in FY 2008

这项行动为2008财政年度的NSF少数民族博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该研究金支持研究员在东道实验室的研究和培训计划，研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。 这项研究和培训计划的标题是“拟南芥中糖信号调节蛋白的生物化学和遗传特征”。“这项研究的主办机构是查佩尔山的北卡罗来纳州大学，赞助科学家是艾伦·M.琼斯 植物需要糖作为能量来源和化学信使来调节生长。植物如何感知和利用糖对于更好地理解植物的基本生物学非常重要，并可能导致作物改良。 本研究调查的G蛋白信号蛋白，已被确定为D-葡萄糖糖传感器和介导的植物生长的植物模型系统拟南芥的编码调节。 这种蛋白质是第一种在生长调节中起糖传感器作用的蛋白质。目前正在进行广泛的生物化学和遗传学研究，详细研究这种蛋白质如何感知D-葡萄糖来调节植物生长和其他细胞过程。这项研究的培训目标包括生物化学，细胞生物学和生物信息学技术，以更好地了解植物生长调节，为独立的研究计划做准备。更广泛的影响包括通过创新的外联方案增加博士后和博士前的少数群体人数。结果将影响基础和应用植物研究，例如，增加理想的性状，并为农业，能源应用和工业提供副产品。

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Tyrell Carr is "Biochemical and genetic characterization of a regulator protein of sugar signaling in Arabidopsis." The host institution for this research is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Alan M. Jones. Plants require sugar as an energy source and as a chemical messenger to regulate growth. How plants sense and use sugars is important to a better understanding of the basic biology of plants and may lead to improved crops. This research investigates an encoded regulator of a G-protein signaling protein that has been identified as a D-glucose sugar sensor and that mediates plant growth in the plant model system Arabidopsis thaliana. This protein is the first of its kind to function as a sugar sensor in growth regulation. Extensive biochemical and genetic studies are being employed to examine in detail how this protein senses D-glucose to regulate plant growth and other cellular processes.The training objectives for this research include techniques in biochemistry, cell biology and bioinformatics to better understand plant growth regulation in preparation for an independent research program. The broader impacts include increasing the number of minorities at the post-doctoral level and at the pre-doctoral level through innovative outreach programs. Results will impact basic as well as applied plant research, for example, increasing desirable traits and providing by-products for agriculture, energy applications, and industry.