| NSF Org: |
MCB Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 13, 2021 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 16, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 2145562 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Wilson Francisco
wfrancis@nsf.gov (703)292-7856 MCB Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2022 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2027 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $876,039.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $698,294.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2023 = $341,419.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
660 S MILL AVENUE STE 204 TEMPE AZ US 85281-3670 (480)965-5479 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
ORSPA TEMPE AZ US 85281-6011 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Molecular Biophysics |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
Oxygenic photosynthesis sustain life on earth by producing oxygen and providing energy for carbon fixation. Increased human population constantly challenges food and energy supplies thus requiring continued innovation to increase the productivity of photosynthesis in multiple ways. This research project will discover how plants direct light energy absorbed in leaves between two different energetic routes. The outcomes of these two routes, which are called linear and cyclic electron flow, produces different energy carries within plant cells. These energy carries are utilized differentially under different conditions and the balance between them is paramount for plant growth and adaptation. The project aims to discover new components and mechanisms that direct this decision using structural biology and protein engineering approaches. An additional goal of the project is to obtain molecular level images of these routing mechanisms in plants that utilize a special form of photosynthesis called C4 photosynthesis. C4 photosynthesis is employed by some of the most important crop species on the planet, Corn, Sugarcane and Sorghum, and confers to these plants many of the advantages that make them such successful crops, for example, improved water usage and higher photosynthetic efficiency. The project will use Sorghum, a plant better adapted to warm and dry conditions then Corn, as a platform to discover components and mechanisms that control electron flow and may be responsible for some of Sorghum?s unique properties. To improve accessibility to the project?s scientific results and to structural biology in general, scientifically accurate virtual reality scenes will be developed based on the project results. These will be used in basic biochemistry courses and made publicly available. A summer research internship will be offered in this research project to enable individuals to explore research as a career path.
Our ability to control and manipulate photosynthesis is severely limited. The long-term goal of the project is to develop a high-level understanding of the function of photosynthetic supercomplexes together with the ability to manipulate their properties in photosynthetic organisms. To achieve this, the project will discover new structures of the photosystem I (PSI) complex in eukaryotes. PSI is one of the most complicated assemblies in nature. Like many large cellular structures, PSI interacts with cellular factors to carry distinct functions, a fact which is still not manifested in our structural description of PSI. Electron flow in photosynthesis follows two main modes, linear or cyclic electron flow (LEF or CEF respectively). By balancing these two pathways, photosynthetic organisms adapt the output of the photosynthetic machinery to cellular needs. The potential for engineering photosynthetic organisms to achieve higher productivity and to synthesize specific chemicals is great but requires changing the basic energy requirements from this machinery. This proposal tackles this issue using cryo-EM supplemented with functional analysis to discover supercomplexes adjusting energy flow around PSI. By determining high-resolution structures of these complexes our mechanistic understanding of the basic systems controlling electron flow modes in photosynthesis will greatly improve.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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