Identifying and Understanding Connections between Photosynthesis and Amino Acid Metabolism

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Intellectual MeritPhotosynthesis provides food, fuel, and fiber to humans and other animals. The growing human population and the increasing worldwide demand for high protein diets and biofuels generate needs for higher plant productivity and improved nutritional quality in crop plants. To improve crop yield and nutritional value, it is important to have a better understanding of how plants utilize carbon from the air and nitrogen from the soil to produce biomass. In green tissues of plants, photosynthesis and the biosynthesis of many amino acids both occur in chloroplasts. These processes are linked to each other, as photosynthesis provides both the carbon and energy for amino acid biosynthesis, while amino acids are the building blocks for the protein components of photosynthesis. Despite an awareness of this relationship, large gaps exist in our understanding of how these important biological processes interact. The long-term goal of this project is to understand the connections between photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism. Computational integration of Arabidopsis thaliana phenotype data (photosynthetic parameters, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, seed carbon and nitrogen content) of mutants with defects in chloroplast-targeted nuclear-encoded gene products will be used to generate a list of candidate genes that can guide us to those connections. The candidate genes will be experimentally tested for changes in photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism, and those mutants with robust and interesting phenotypes will then undergo more focused studies. By increasing our understanding of the complex interactions between photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism, we will be in a position to effectuate advantageous changes in both. Broader ImpactsThis project will increase our understanding of the interactions between photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, and nitrogen metabolism, and these results should inform plant breeding and biotechnological approaches to crop improvement. The data and outcomes of the project will be made publicly available via publications and a project website. In addition to providing year-round training opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students, the project will integrate research and education as part of established summer Research Experiences for Undergraduate Programs at Western Michigan University (WMU) and Michigan State University (MSU). The collaboration between WMU and MSU with respect to the research, education, and outreach activities will also provide cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional training and experience to trainees in both laboratories.