Poster: Membrane transport

Abs # 184: Molecular and Genomic analyses on transfer-cell development and function in the economically important plants

Presenter:	Wang, Hong Li, hxwang@ualr.edu
Authors	Wang, Hong Li (A)   Beggs, Marjorie  (B)
Affiliations:	(A): Department of Biology, University of Arkansas-at Little Rock (B): Microarray Core Facility, University of Arkanas for Medical Sciences

The elaboration of transfer-cells is one of the most impressive and powerful strategies that certain plants have developed to create a high capacity for membrane transport of solutes. Transfer-cells are found in roots, leaves, and developing seeds of many economically important plants, including soybean, wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, cotton, sunflower, barley, pea, faba bean, sugar beet, capsicum, alfalfa, potato, and those plants provide almost 99% of nutrients for humankind and other materials. Thus, understanding of transfer-cell development and function may provide useful insights into improving yield and nutritional quality of these important crops. However, very little is known about the molecular and genomic mechanisms involved in the transfer-cell development and function. We have initiated a molecular and genomic project to identify transfer-cell specific genes and gene families in economically important crops of wheat and maize. We have successfully isolated a large amount of nucellar projection transfer-cells from the developing wheat grain at 22 to 24 days post-anthesis. Using the mRNA extracted from these isolated wheat transfer-cells and control mRNA from their adjacent non-transfer-cell cells to hybridize with Maize Unigene Microarrays, we identify transfer cell specific genes, and catalog them into different functional groups: a) Regulatory genes; b) Signal transduction; c) Microtubules and cytoskeleton; d) Cell wall synthesis; e) Vesicle trafficking and plasma membrane configuration; f) Transporters and ATPases; and g) unknown genes. We are generating the first gene expression profile for transfer cells using the molecular and genomic approaches. This work is supported by grant No.01-B-29 to HLW from Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.