RUI: Interdependence of Nutrient and Pheromone Sensing Pathways in Yeast

细胞分裂和融合是资源密集型活动，因此酵母细胞协调环境中营养物质的利用和繁殖的能力具有重要的生理意义。这个项目将通过测试葡萄糖感应和交配是相互依赖的假设来检验葡萄糖可用性在酵母交配中所起的作用。葡萄糖感受器和信息素受体是酵母中仅有的G蛋白偶联受体。该项目的目的包括1)评估信息素刺激对葡萄糖感受器的影响，2)检测葡萄糖感受器和信息素受体之间的直接物理相互作用，以及3)识别这些受体下游信号通路组件之间的相互作用。更广泛的影响：这个项目在加强我们对酵母中营养感应和交配之间关系的理解的同时，将影响本科生和三个主要本科院校的理科教师。本科生将在为期十周的密集暑期项目中接触到生化研究，并有机会在学年继续他们的研究。这些学生将参与设计、实施、解释和传播他们自己在同龄人社区中的实验结果。这一项目为研究人员提供了一次机会，将他们的研究融入到他们的教学中，从而加强参与机构对数百名学生的科学教育。参与这项研究的学生将主要来自阿巴拉契亚农村地区典型的未得到充分服务的人群(包括未被充分代表的少数民族)。

Cell division and fusion are resource intensive activities, and thus the ability of the yeast cell to coordinate the availability of nutrients in its environment with reproduction is of great physiological importance. This project will examine the role that glucose availability plays in yeast mating by testing the hypothesis that glucose sensing and mating are interdependent. The glucose sensor and the pheromone receptor are the only G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) in yeast. The aims of this project include 1) assessing the effects of pheromone stimulation on the glucose sensor, 2) examining the direct physical interactions of the glucose sensing and pheromone receptors, and 3) identifying interactions between components of the signaling pathways downstream of these receptors. Broader Impacts: This project, while enhancing our understanding of the relationship between nutrient sensing and mating in yeast, will impact undergraduate students and the science faculty at three primarily undergraduate institutions. Undergraduate students will be exposed to biochemical research during an intensive ten week summer project, with the opportunity to continue their research during the academic year. These students will be involved in the design, implementation, interpretation, and dissemination of the results of their own experiments in a community of their peers. This project represents an opportunity for the investigators to integrate their research into their teaching, thereby enhancing the scientific education of hundreds of students at the participating institutions. The students involved in this research will be primarily from a typically underserved population (including under-represented minorities) in rural Appalachia.