Athens, Georgia
October 25, 2006
Transposable elements, popularly
called "jumping genes" when they were discovered more than half
a century ago, are sequences of DNA that can move around
chromosomes in a cell. At first thought to be molecular "junk,"
they are now recognized as important, even crucial parts of the
blueprints of plants and animals.
The National Science Foundation
has awarded a grant of $4.1 million to the
University of Georgia to
identify all the transposable elements (TE's) in maize and to
generate an annotated database that will assist all future
research in this crop plant crucial across the globe.
"The collective experiences of the team that will work on this
puts us in a unique position," said Susan Wessler, Regents
Professor of plant biology at UGA and principal investigator.
"Maize is the organism of choice for understanding how TE's
contribute to gene and genome evolution."
All information from the project, which is expected to take five
years, will be made freely available to the Maize Genome
Sequencing Project and to long-term repositories such as the
Maize Genome Database.
"The scientific goals of this project and the familiarity of
maize also provide outstanding opportunities for student
training and for connections between the research community and
the broader public," said Wessler. "This project will dedicate
more than 15 percent of its resources to the development of
web-based, traveling and local museum exhibits that describe the
history of maize as a crop, as a model organism for research and
as a key component for many Native American cultures."
To this end, collaborations have been established with the UGA
Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution and the
U.S. Botanic Garden.
Genomes differ dramatically in the percentage of TE's in their
genomes. For instance, half of human DNA is transposable
elements, while in some plants, the amount is more than 90
percent. About 80 percent of maize genomic DNA is derived from
TE's.
The project also has an in-lab minority outreach component. Each
participating institution has a commitment to the education of
undergraduates, high school students and other members of the
broader community, especially in the representation of
under-represented groups.
Scientist Barbara McClintock discovered the first TE's in maize
in 1948, work that led to her winning the Nobel Prize in 1983.
Other principal investigators for the newly funded grant
include, from UGA: Jeffrey Bennetzen, department of genetics and
Kelly Dawe, departments of plant biology and genetics.
Participating from the UGA Museum of Natural History is Byron
Freeman. Other co-principal investigators include Nin Jiang of
Michigan State University and Phillip SanMiguel of Purdue
University. |