Poster: Root biology

Abs # 706: Environmental influences on root development and productivity in the tallgrass prairie: genomic and molecular approaches

Presenter:	Patankar, Aparna G., aparnap@ksu.edu
Authors	Patankar, Aparna G. (A)   Suelter, Tyler  (A)   Johnson, Loretta C. (A)   Shah, Jyoti  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): Kansas State University, Department of Biology

The tallgrass prairie ecosystem in the central great plains of North America is limited by fire, grazing, climatic variability, and nitrogen. Limited water availability through most of the growing season limits productivity in tallgrass prairie. In addition, fire and grazing by ungulates alter nitrogen availability and thus impact productivity. Belowground plant processes dominate and are critically important to the maintenance of the tallgrass prairie. However, the impact of environmental factors on root growth and development in tallgrass prairie is poorly understood. Our objective is to understand the molecular basis of changes in root productivity in tall grass prairie in response to the individual and interactive effects of environmental factors. We have taken a genomic approach to identify big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) genes that are differentially expressed in roots in response to a combination of water and nitrogen regimes. The suppression subtractive hybridization technology (SSH) is being used to identify the differentially expressed genes. The expression profile of the identified genes will be correlated with root productivity measurements in the tallgrass prairie at the Konza Prairie Long Term Ecological Research site, on the outskirts of Manhattan, Kansas. We are in the process of sequencing and characterizing the expression of clones in these SSH libraries.