Poster: Water Relations

Abs # 211: An Examination of Late Embryogenesis "Abundant Proteins, the Relationship of Structure to Function

Presenter:	Manfre, Alicia J., jalicia@clemson.edu
Authors	Manfre, Alicia J. (A)
Affiliations:	(A): Clemson University

The Group 1 Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins are common seed storage proteins expressed, as the name states, late in the seed development of essentially all angiosperms. Many predict that these proteins are involved in the maintenance of desiccation stability during the developmentally regulated seed desiccation and dormancy period. Our research focus has been characterizing the function and structure of these vital proteins through functional knockouts in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana). Torrey Mesa Research Institute (TMRI), in San Diego California, maintains a database of over 100,000 mutagenized A. thaliana plants. Through a search of their database, we identified four potential A. thaliana lines containing inserts in the two intrinsic lea genes, AtEm1 and AtEm6. Plasmid rescue, southern and western blot experiments are underway to determine if these plant lines represent true functional knockouts. As a secondary means of disrupting protein function we will also alter the expression of the two A. thaliana genes using RNA interference. We have established the constructs necessary to induce silencing, which should bring about the degradation of the two intrinsic LEA mRNAs. These constructs will be introduced into A. thaliana by Agrobacterium tumifaciens mediated DNA transfer. Once we have identified plant lines with altered levels of AtEm1P and AtEm6P expression, we will characterize the resulting phenotype in an attempt to further clarify LEA protein function.