Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The remarkable diversity of plants is in part based on their huge capabilities to make small molecules with biological activity that have been used as poisons, hallucinogens, stimulants and cures for a variety of human activities and to cure diseases. Our studies focus on the molecular events during growth and development of plants that stimulate certain cells in the organism to become specialized for making such molecules. These 'cell factories' have appeared through evolution and natural selection to make certain classes of molecules that are characteristic to the 'species' and that impart certain biological characteristics. The Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)that manufactures powerful anticancer drugs and Concord grape (Vitis labrusca) that makes aroma compounds and blue pigments will be used as models to compare the similarities and differences in cellular specialization required to accommodate such different chemistries. State of the art technology for harvesting individual cell types will be used to obtain specialized cell factories in order to more easily study the properties that make them different. These differences will be described in terms of genomic, proteomic and metabolic profiles that will provide a fingerprint to describe the cellular specialization that makes biosynthesis and accumulation of such special chemicals. This fundamental knowledge will allow us to enhance, modulate and modify the chemistry of plants to produce more and better drugs, aromas and flavors.