September 30, 2002

LINCOLN, Neb. — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the lead recipient of a $6 million, four-year National Science Foundation grant to establish a Plant Genome Research Center.

Michael Fromm, director of UNL's Center for Biotechnology and a member of the university's Plant Science Initiative, is the principal investigator on the team composed of scientists from UNL, the University of California-Davis, the University of Arizona, the University of California-San Diego, the University of Florida and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

"This grant is a tremendous example of the strength we have built in plant science and a realization of our goals to establish research centers and collaborations with other institutions," said Prem Paul, UNL vice chancellor for research and dean of graduate studies.

The genome center will study protein kinases of plants, focusing mainly on rice. Rice is the first cereal crop for which scientists have sequenced its complete genome, making it an important model for other cereal crops critical to Nebraska agriculture, such as corn, sorghum and wheat, Fromm said.

Protein kinases are enzymes that modulate protein behavior, affecting the way plants perceive and react to their environments. Manipulating kinases could be a way to regulate plant tolerance of disease and environmental stresses, such as drought and cold, Fromm said.

"The main questions we are trying to answer are what are the kinases' role in the rice plant, how they are involved in signaling and how kinases interact with each other and with what they interact," he said. "We hope that through rice protein kinases, we can create a blueprint for other cereals."

The new center grows in part from the research capabilities of UNL's Plant Science Initiative, established to conduct interdisciplinary research in the basic plant sciences. Fromm and other researchers associated with the initiative use genomics technologies to gain new understanding of how plants work and how they can be improved for value-added agricultural applications. Fromm, a professor of agronomy and horticulture in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is one of several UNL researchers associated with the university's Plant Science Initiative.

The university's investments in plant sciences through the state-funded Nebraska Research Initiative have encouraged development of large-scale, multi-investigator projects such as the Plant Genome Center by funding faculty recruitment, equipment acquisition, and matching grants, Paul said.

A key factor in winning the grant is UNL's strong track record in using mass spectrometry in the study of proteomics, the identification of proteins and determination of their function in an organism. Mass spectrometry is used to analyze the proteins once they have been isolated. UNL's high-quality mass spectrometry center with seven instruments is one of the best academic centers in the nation, said Ron Cerny, director of mass spectrometry services at UNL and a member of the Plant Genome Center research team. Also associated is Gautam Sarath, research associate professor in biochemistry and director of UNL's Proteomics/Protein Core Facility.

The grant also includes $200,000 for a program to encourage minority students to pursue scientific careers and equip them to do advanced research. Promising students will take a graduate-level summer course in research techniques and work with center scientists in the laboratories.

09/30/02-MN

Michael E. Fromm - Ph.D.
UNL Center for Biotechnology; Agronomy and Horticulture
Director; Professor
(402)472-2968

Prem Paul - Ph.D., DVM
Office of Research
Vice Chancellor
(402) 472-3123

Monica Norby
Director of Research Communications
(402)472-4180

Department: Agricultural Research Division