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Foundation-based Study Reaches for the Stars |
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Media advisory
issued April 4, 2002, effective immediately.
Foundation-based Study Reaches for the Stars ARDMORE, Okla. — When most people think of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), they think of high adventure in the last frontier, space rockets, Mars probes, and giant orbiting telescopes with funny names like Hubble. Mention NASA to Elison Blancaflor, and he immediately thinks about what happens underground with plant roots. Blancaflor, a researcher in charge of the Ardmore, Okla.-based Noble Foundation's Plant Biology Division's microscopy facilities, has received a three-year, $244,000 NASA ground-based research grant to study the effects of gravity on plant root growth. On earth, the most obvious manifestation of gravity's effect on plants is the downward bending of roots and the upward growth of shoots. "It would be interesting to know how plants can tell their orientation," said Blancaflor. "For example, how roots know which way is down and how shoots know which way is up." Research on this phenomenon, referred to as gravitropism, is not new. Charles Darwin wrote about the reaction of plants to gravity more than a century ago, and the topic remains a major one in plant biology studies. It isn't a new area of study for Blancaflor, either. His doctoral thesis and some of his post-doctoral work centered on gravitropism. He's especially interested in the cellular mechanism underlying gravitropism in plant roots. "I'm looking at how the whole root behaves, but I'm also looking at what happens at the cellular and molecular level," said Blancaflor. One of the basic questions scientists are debating in the field is how plants sense gravity. Although established research shows that gravity sensing takes place in the root cap, Blancaflor's work will go a step further - investigating the early cellular events taking place in the cap as the root responds to gravity. In particular, he is interested in the role of the plant cytoskeleton (cell skeleton) in the process of gravitropism. The cytoskeleton, a network of filamentous proteins, functions in many processes including cell division and cell growth. It is also a means by which cells transport substances, and therefore a way in which cells can communicate with each other. "One of the questions I'm trying to answer is how the cytoskeleton transmits the gravity signal which presumably originates in the cap to initiate the growth responses, which take place in another region of the root called the elongation zone," said Blancaflor. It may sound simple, but the studies will include exhaustive computer-based growth measurements,advanced light microscopy techniquessuch as ratio-imaging and confocal microscopy, plant hormone transport studies and the use of green fluorescent protein (GFP) constructs. These techniques should allow him to determine the early signaling events that occur during gravitropism. "Although there are some candidate molecules that have been identified as possible signaling molecules, many aspects of this process remain a mystery," he said. Plant growth and gravity effects are both vital to NASA's long-range goal of colonization in space, said Blancaflor. Plants are a vital component of the Advanced Life Support System that must be in place for humans to survive off-planet since plants are essential to provide food and oxygen, as well as recycle waste and perform other functions. "This ground-based research could be the basis for planning other plant research in space," Blancaflor said. The NASA grant was announced last June and began in September 2001. The money has funded laboratory equipment, including a new fluorescence microscope and imaging system capable of measuring changes in the concentration of ions (electrically charged molecules) in cells. Although this system will be used extensively for the NASA project, the microscopy capabilities at the Foundation will also be enhanced by such a system, which has potential use for other research projects within the Plant Biology Division. In addition, the grant funds a three-year postdoctoral position for Dr. Guichuan Hou, who joined Blancaflor's group in January. Hou received his bachelor's and master's degrees from China and his doctorate from Idaho State University. Also part of the group is senior research assistant Deepti Mohamalawari, who recently received a master's degree from Western Kentucky University. Besides using common laboratory research plants like corn, tobacco and Arabidopsis, Blancaflor and his group will also use Medicago truncatula, which is playing an increasingly important role in the work of many Noble Foundation scientists. The Foundation established the Center for MedicagoGenomics Research as part of the Plant Biology Division in 1999, and Blancaflor intends to employ some of the genomic resources available at the Foundation for his research on plant roots and gravitropism. So, what does happen to plants grown in the weightlessness of space? Stay tuned - Blancaflor may soon have some answers that will benefit human colonization in space in the not-too-distant future. ###
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs. To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org. More news releases available at www.noble.org/Press_Release |
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