RAPID: Pokeweed Antiviral Protein: Seasonal and Compartmental Variants and Effects of Pathogens on Variant Production

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Intellectual Merit: The long term goal of this research is to understand plant anti-pathogen strategies. Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) are linked to plant defense and are found in numerous plant, fungal, and bacterial species. They have a broad spectrum of anti-pathogen properties including antiviral activity. Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), found in American pokeweed, is a type I RIP and inhibits protein synthesis by depurinating the sarcin/ricin loop of the large ribosomal RNA. Recent evidence shows that PAP can also depurinate mRNA, bind to m7G caps of mRNA, and interact with translation initiation factors. PAP is expressed in different isoforms and in different compartments of the plant throughout the pokeweed. Formation of homo- and/or hetero-dimers under some conditions has prompted the oligomerization is influenced exposure to various pathogens or stressors. The functional consequences of PAP interactions, isomers, and polymers are not well-understood. This RAPID research project will characterize the various isoforms and oligomeric forms of PAP(1)at various stages in the plants growth cycle, from various tissues/compartments of the plant (e.g. leaves, roots, stems, berries), and(2)in response to exposure to various pathogens and/or stressors. This is a time-sensitive project restricted by the life cycle of the plant and by an agreement with the New York City Central Park Conservancy to harvest pokeweed plant tissues during the upcoming 2010 growing season. Broader Impacts: This project, which will be carried out primarily by students, includes a summer research training opportunity for students from John Jay College, CUNY to work in the laboratory of Dr. Jorge Vivanco at Colorado State University. The opportunity to participate in the summer experience will provide students with excellent training in multiple biochemical, biophysical, and plant biology techniques. Also, because John Jay College is a primarily undergraduate institution with a population that is largely minority and female, this RAPID activity will increase the likelihood that these underrepresented individuals will pursue postgraduate degrees and continue in science as independent investigators. Moreover, this project will help forge a robust collaboration for future work between the Friedland and Vivanco laboratories and their students. Through collaboration, the scientific impact extend from current knowledge of RIPs to a deeper quantitative understanding and to the plant rhizosphere biology field.