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Government &
Public Affairs Team
Reginald M. Turner
John
Van Fossen, Practice Group Leader
Lucius A. Vassar
Chris Wagner
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Van Andel Researchers Find Key to Drought Resistant
Crops
Van Andel Research Institute
researchers have determined precisely how the plant hormone abscisic
acid works at the molecular level to help plants respond to
environmental stresses such as drought and cold.
Their findings, published in the
journal Nature, could help engineer crops that thrive in harsh
environments around the world and combat global food shortages.
The findings
-- discovered largely by chance while researching means of producing
more potent drugs with fewer side effects -- could also have
implications for stress disorders in humans.
VARI
scientists have determined the structure of the receptors that plants
use to sense ABA, a hormone that keeps seeds dormant and keeps buds
from sprouting until the climate is right. Locating these receptors
and understanding how they work is a key finding -- one that has
eluded researchers for nearly a half-century. This discovery is
crucial to understanding how plants respond when they are under
stress from extreme temperatures or lack of water.
"The
plant community has been waiting for this discovery for many
years," said VARI research scientist Karsten Melcher, one of the
lead authors of the study. "It could have major effects on nutrition
and crop yields, especially as fresh water sources become
scarcer."
Added Grand
Valley State University plant development biologist Sheila A.
Blackman: "The work by Dr. Xu and his colleagues, published in
one of the most prestigious science journals in the world, will
undoubtedly become known as an historic defining moment in our
understanding of the mode of action of the important plant hormone
abscisic acid. They show how the signaling molecule and its receptor
initiate a cascade of events that ultimately affects the expression
of genes that are critical for a plant's survival under harsh
conditions. This work has enormous implications for global food
supply."
Melcher
works in the VARI Laboratory of Structural Biology led by
Distinguished Scientific Investigator H. Eric Xu, Ph.D. The lab began
studying abscisic acid signaling in March this year because a
proposed ABA receptor was reported to be a member of G-protein
coupled receptors, a group of proteins that the lab studies. More
than 50 percent of all drugs on the market target these proteins, but
it has been extremely difficult to determine their atomic structure.
Xu's
laboratory uses a technique known as X-ray crystallography to
determine exactly how and why the drug compounds work in molecular detail,
which can then help drug developers engineer more potent drugs that
have fewer unwanted side effects.
Although it
later resulted that the abscisic acid receptors were found to be
members of another protein family, Xu's lab continued their studies on
the newly identified ABA receptors. Their findings could help to
develop crops that grow in drought, cold, salt water environments,
and other harsh conditions, perhaps aiding in stemming or reversing
food shortages around the world. Additionally, proteins central to
ABA sensing are related to human proteins involved in cellular stress
responses and may have implications for stress disorders in humans.
"Proteins
with similarities to plant ABA receptors are also found in
humans," said Xu. "Further studies in this area could
reveal important implications for people with stress disorders."
The lab
worked with specialists in plant biology at other institutions to
validate the data, including the National Center for Plant Gene
Research in Beijing, China, the Department of Botany and Plant
Sciences at the University of California at Riverside, the Center for
Plant Stress Genomics and Technology at the King Abdullah University
of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, and the Department
of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
"A
finding of this importance helps demonstrate how discoveries at the
molecular level in plants can have profound implications for the
diseases of humans," said VARI President and Research Director
Dr. Jeffrey Trent. "Remarkably, Dr. Xu's findings, made in only
a few short months, will open a decade of research on both plants and
man. From a key role in the ripening of fruit through increased
understanding of how stress affects a myriad of diseases in man --
this finding starts a new chapter in plant and animal biology."
The research
was supported by Grant No. 1R01GM087413-01 from the National
Institutes of Health.
Established
by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996, Van Andel Institute is an
independent research and educational organization based in Grand
Rapids, dedicated to preserving, enhancing and expanding the
frontiers of medical science, and to achieving excellence in
education by probing fundamental issues of education and the learning
process. VARI, the research arm of VAI, is dedicated to probing the
genetic, cellular and molecular origins of cancer, Parkinson and
other diseases and working to translate those findings into effective
therapies. This is accomplished through the work of more than 200
researchers in 18 on-site laboratories, in laboratories in Singapore
and Nanjing, and in collaborative partnerships that span the globe.
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more about Clark Hill and our Government & Public Affairs
Practice Group, visit clarkhill.com
or call 800.949.3124
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