International Collaboration in Chemistry: Mechanisms of Iron Uptake and Storage in Marine Macroalgae-An Integrated Bioinorganic Approach

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The award was submitted in response to solicitation NSF 08-602: International Collaboration in Chemistry between US Investigators and their Counterparts Abroad (ICC). The NSF and the partnering international funding agency co-reviewed and made a joint funding decision on this proposal. NSF will support the research of the U.S. investigators while the partnering international funding agency will support the research of the collaborating foreign investigators.This research award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering supports work by Professor Carl J. Carrano at San Diego State University who, with his German collaborator Berthold Matzanke (supported by the Deutsche Forschunsgemeinschaft), will conduct fundamental studies on the Iron Uptake and Storage Mechanisms in Marine Macroalgae. Iron is a critical micronutrient for all plant species including those associated with the marine environment. Indeed iron has been found to be the growth limiting nutrient with respect to the growth of phytoplankton in large areas of all the oceans. Thus the chemistry and biochemistry of how this element is acquired, stored and processed is of critical importance to an understanding of the marine coastal environments in which macroalgae are usually the dominant organisms in terms of biomass, often forming extensive kelp forests. The key role of kelp forests, effectively constituting an interface between the ocean, the atmosphere and land masses, impacts such diverse areas as oceanic primary productivity, alternate energy sources and global carbon sequestration. Using a variety of sophisticated chemical, molecular and biological tools this project will increase our understanding of this environmentally important class of marine organisms. Marine macroalgae (seaweeds) represent an important resource with a wide range of uses in the food, cosmetic, and fertilizer industries with an estimated annual global value of about 4 billion dollars. They are also attracting increasing attention as a source for biofuels that do not compete with terrestrial plants for food production. This work also provides for the training of graduate (both MS and PhD) and undergraduate students in a wide range of important techniques. Because San Diego State University has a high minority population (10th largest grantor of minority bachelor's degrees in the USA) it is expected to impact minority recruitment and training in the sciences. The international nature of the research team and the proposed student exchanges will also promote international cooperation in science.