US-France planning visit: Understanding the molecular regulation of photosynthetic-related processes in unicellular marine eukaryotes

一项非技术性描述建议的研究将生理学、基因组学、生物物理学和生物化学的概念与海洋生态学和海洋学融合在一起。在过去5年中，硅藻基因组学的进展和基因组工具的开发，与经典的生理和生物物理技术相结合，首次提供了理解硅藻如何感知和传递光信号并将其转化为生长和生产力所需的化学能的能力。这将提供硅藻生理学方面的基本信息，这是理解硅藻通过固碳减缓全球气候变化的潜力所必需的。这个项目将提供罗格斯大学的实践培训？来自服务不足和代表性不足社区的本科生将积极参与这项工作。拟议中的研究还将促进美国和法国之间的一项新的国际合作，并通过促进和促进两名事业早期、崭露头角的女性研究人员的参与来扩大女性的参与。技术描述硅藻，单细胞，真核自养生物，是海洋中最成功的生态和功能多样化的生物之一。作为光自养生物，光是一种关键的环境信号，是光合作用和生长所需的能量来源，但过量了，也可能是诱变和细胞死亡的来源。因此，光捕获必须与细胞内将光化学转换为能量和/或安全地消散多余光子的能力相平衡。硅藻拥有一套复杂的机制，使它们能够最大限度地生长和光合作用，同时将损害和细胞死亡降至最低。然而，这些机制背后的分子基础在很大程度上仍未确定。这个项目的目标是回答有关这些生态重要生物光合作用过程的分子调控的基本问题。尽管硅藻在生态上具有优势，并与碳和硅的生物地球化学密切相关，但对其光合作用能力和生长的分子调控机制知之甚少。作为红色叶绿体谱系的次生内共生体，硅藻叶绿体和光合作用过程从根本上不同于绿色叶绿体谱系(如高等植物和叶绿素植物)。因此，直接外推高等植物和叶绿素植物的光合作用过程并不总是适用或相关的。这一拟议的多管齐下的方法将汇集具有跨学科专业知识的研究人员，并将融合生理学、生物物理学、分子生物学、分子生态学和海洋学。该项目的具体目标是：1)表征最近发现的一种光合作用的叶绿体定位调节因子的分子机制；2)通过利用基于生理和生物物理的方法筛选遗传突变体文库，鉴定新的光合作用调节因子。硅藻的生态重要性及其通过固碳在减缓全球气候变化中发挥作用的潜力要求详细了解用于调节其光合作用过程的分子机制。这项研究有望为这些过程的调控提供重要信息，并提高我们对现代海洋中控制海洋硅藻分布和生产力的因素的认识。

a non-technical description Proposed research blends concepts in physiology, genomics, biophysics, and biochemistry with marine ecology and oceanography. Advances in diatom genomics and the development of genome-enabled tools over the past 5 years, combined with classical physiological and biophysical techniques provides, for the first time, the ability to understand how diatoms sense and transduce light signals and convert them into chemical energy for growth and productivity. This will provide the fundamental information on diatom physiology that is required for understanding the potential diatoms have in mitigating global climate change through carbon sequestration. This project will provide hands-on training of Rutgers? undergraduates from underserved and underrepresented communities who will actively participate in the work. Proposed research will also catalyze a new international collaboration between the U.S. and France and broaden the participation of women by promoting and fostering the participation of two early career, rising female researchers.a technical description Diatoms, unicellular, eukaryotic photoautotrophs, are one of the most ecologically successful and functionally diverse organisms in the ocean. As photoautotrophs, light is a key environmental signal that is required as a source of energy for photosynthesis and growth, but, in excess, can also be a source of mutagenesis and cell death. Light capture must therefore be balanced with the intracellular capacity for photochemical conversion of that light into energy and/or the safe dissipation of excess photons. Diatoms possess a suite of sophisticated mechanisms that allow them to maximize growth and photosynthesis while minimizing damage and cell death. However, the molecular basis underlying these mechanisms has remained largely uncharacterized. The goal of this project is to answer fundamental questions regarding the molecular regulation of photosynthetic processes in these ecologically important organisms. Despite the ecological dominance of diatoms and their tight connection to both carbon and silicon biogeochemistry, little is known about the molecular mechanism regulating their photosynthetic capacity and growth. As secondary endosymbionts of the red plastid-lineage, diatom chloroplasts and, therefore photosynthetic processes, are fundamentally distinct from green plastid-lineages (e.g. higher plants and chlorophytes). Therefore, direct extrapolation on the regulation of photosynthetic processes from higher plants and chlorophytes is not always applicable or relevant. This proposed multi-pronged approach will bring together researchers with interdisciplinary expertise and will merge physiology, biophysics, molecular biology, molecular ecology, and oceanography. The specific goals of this project are to: 1) Characterize the molecular mechanism of a recently identified plastid-localized regulator of photosynthesis and 2) Identify novel molecular regulators of photosynthesis by screening libraries of genetic mutants using physiological and biophysical-based methods. The ecological importance of diatoms and their potential to play a role in mitigating global climate change through carbon sequestration calls for a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms used to modulate their photosynthetic processes. This research is expected to provide significant information about the regulation of these processes and improve our knowledge on the factors controlling the distribution and productivity of marine diatoms in the modern ocean.