Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell su ....Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell surface proteins. These characteristics are precisely those we might expect to be responsible for interactions between plants and bacteria. This project aims to examine a large collection of xanthomonads for integrons, and determine whether particular integron gene contents are associated with host-pathogen specificity.
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The hunt for Ribonucleic Acid riboswitches and genetic sensors of metabolic flux in plants. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) contains both structural and sequence information that coordinates feedback of metabolic processes in response to environmental change, thereby promoting cellular adaptation and survival. This project will discover ancient RNA modules and structural switches in plants that sense chemical reactions and regulate pathway flux.
The role of the ribosome and translation in plant fertility. Regulation of gene expression is essential to the development of multicellular organisms. This project will provide insights into a unique role for the basic cellular translation machinery in plant fertility. The results will provide opportunities for improving crop yield and for development of sustainable agriculture.