Chloroplast Signal Transduction in Marine Chromophytes

MCB9728262 Cattolico，Rose Ann海洋有色植物叶绿体信号转导 条款摘要 沿海生态系统的管理最近已成为国家新闻媒体的一个主要话题。 人们对浮游植物对海洋生态平衡的贡献有了新的认识。 这种意识的一部分是通过观察美国海岸藻类大量繁殖的破坏性影响而获得的。 然而，浮游植物也是水生食物网的基石，并产生具有生物医学重要性的迷人化合物，这些化合物可以从海洋中“开采”。 藻类生活在不稳定的环境中，必须对不断变化的环境线索（例如，光、温度和营养）以确保存活。 我们的研究分析了一种潜在的有毒光合细菌感知这些信号并将这些信号转换为代谢命令的机制。 具体来说，我们将研究一个原核样的信号转导系统，是本地化的叶绿体的效应组件。 该组分通过影响转录来调节基因表达。 我们已经对产生效应蛋白的基因进行了测序。 接下来，我们将在细菌表达系统中过量生产这种蛋白质，然后分析蛋白质靶向的基因。 最后，我们希望能够确定这种信号转导级联反应的受体。 这项研究完成后，将提供一个分类群（有色植物），这是生态上重要的，但只收到边缘科学的关注参考信息。

MCB9728262 Cattolico, Rose Ann Chloroplast Signal Transduction in Marine Chromophytes Lay Summary Management of coastal ecosystems has recently become a major topic for the national news media. There is a new awareness of the contribution by phytoplankton to a balanced marine ecology. Part of this awareness has been gained from observing the devastating effects of algal blooms off the coast of the United States. Phytoplankton, however, also serve as the keystone of aquatic food webs and produce fascinating compounds of biomedical importance which can be "mined" from the sea. Algae live in a precarious environment and must respond rapidly to changing environmental cues (e.g., light, temperature, and nutrients) to ensure survival. Our study analyzes a mechanism by which a potentially toxic photosynthetic alga perceives these cues and transduces those signals into metabolic commands. Specifically, we will study the effector component of a prokaryotic-like signal transduction system that is localized in the chloroplast. This component modulates gene expression by affecting transcription. We have sequenced the gene that produces the effector protein. Next we will overproduce this protein in a bacterial expression system and then analyze the genes that are targeted by the protein. Finally, we hope to identify the receptor of this signal transduction cascade. This research when completed will provide reference information for a taxon (Chromophyta) that is ecologically important yet has received only marginal scientific attention.