Function and Control of Xyloglucan Galactosylation in Arabidopsis

我们这个时代的核心问题之一是实施措施，减少二氧化碳等温室气体的排放，以防止全球变暖，并实现美国减少对需要从政治不稳定甚至敌对国家进口的化石燃料的依赖。在过去的几年里，越来越清楚的是，美国有能力通过微生物发酵植物细胞壁材料来生产大量乙醇形式的燃料；然而，这些程序的优化需要深入了解细胞壁成分的合成是如何受到监管的。此外，研究人员需要知道如何通过基因工程修改细胞壁材料，以便在不损害植物生存能力和活力的情况下促进其利用。在过去的几年里，人们研究了半纤维素木聚糖的合成来解决这个问题，现在已经有可能在分子水平上确定这种聚合物的形成是如何被调节的。这项由美国国家科学基金会资助的研究旨在了解不同生化途径对木葡聚糖和其他细胞壁成分合成的相对贡献，最终目标是优化光合作用固定碳对环境友好型生物燃料的有用性。目前的项目将为本科生、研究生和博士后水平的学生提供培训机会，以创建一支多样化的劳动力队伍，使他们能够在未来实现这些目标，造福美国经济，并解决影响所有国家的环境问题。

One of the central issues of our time is to implement measures to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide to prevent global warming, and to achieve a reduction of the dependence of the United States on fossil fuels that need to be imported from politically unstable or even hostile states. During the last few years, it has become increasingly clear that the U.S. is capable of producing substantial amounts of fuel in the form of ethanol by microbial fermentation of plant cell wall material; however, optimization of these procedures requires a deep understanding how the synthesis of cell wall components is being regulated. Furthermore, researchers need to know how cell wall material can be modified by genetic engineering to facilitate its utilization without compromising the viability and vigor of the plants. During the last few years, the synthesis of the hemicellulose xyloglucan has been studied to address this issue, and it is now possible to determine how the formation of this polymer is being regulated on the molecular level. The NSF-funded research is designed to understand the relative contributions of different biochemical pathways toward the synthesis of xyloglucan and other cell wall components with the ultimate goal of optimizing the usefulness of photosynthetically fixed carbon toward the generation of environmentally friendly biofuels. The current project will provide training opportunities for students at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels to create a diverse work force that will be able to pursue these goals in the future for the benefit of the U.S. economy and to address environmental issues that affect all nations.