An Interdisciplinary Approach to Deciphering the Molecular Dialogue between the Plasma Membrane and Nucleus of Medicago truncatula

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PI: Michael R. Sussman (University of Wisconsin - Madison)CoPIs: Jean Michel Ané, Joshua J. Coon, and Sushmita Roy (University of Wisconsin - Madison)This goal of this project is to develop and apply genomic technologies for understanding at a molecular level, how bacteria and plants communicate to create a remarkable product of evolution, the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic nodule. An important part of this conversation between the microbe and the plant is a change in the chemical composition of proteins within the cell, i.e., in the degree by which phosphate groups are added or removed to specific amino acids. Using state of the art mass spectrometers to determine precisely which proteins are being modified by phosphate, and by how much in the first hour in which the bacteria meets the plant, the project will attempt to elucidate how the plant changes its proteins in order to initiate all of the myriad changes in their metabolism and gene expression that are required for the symbiotic nodules to form. All project outcomes (e.g., data, peptides and germplasm resources) will be provided to the public free of charge and without intellectual property restrictions. Medicago transcriptome, proteome and phosphoproteome data generated in this project will be deposited and accessible to the public at long-term repositories such as National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), the Legume Information Service (LIS: http://www.comparative-legumes.org/) and the PeptideAtlas (www.peptideatlas.org). The mass spectrometric technology being developed and used in this project could be useful for understanding many different biological events, besides symbiotic nitrogen fixation. In order to provide opportunities for researchers all over the U.S. to access this sophisticated instrumentation and technology for use in their research, the project will develop and hold a one-week long Plant Proteomic Workshop. To be held each summer at the University of Wisconsin, this workshop will provide two dozen participants (graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and professors) with hands-on, in-depth use of mass spectrometers for measuring changes in the proteins from plants under study in their own labs. This workshop will greatly facilitate the more widespread accessibility and use of this technology for research in the general area of plant biology, and should greatly help this country's goal of training our future plant scientists and help them become comfortable with modern genomic "systems biology" experimental techniques.