Both cyanobacteria and Arabidopsis have been fully sequenced and there are imminent plans for the sequencing of the moss Physcomitrella. The grant that Pakrasi and his colleagues received is from a new NSF program called FIBR (Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research). Begun in 2002, FIBR stresses the integrative approach to studying biology, linking the disciplines of systems and computer science bioinformatics -- with genetics and molecular biology genomics. The FIBR program is removing the limits biologists have found increasingly frustrating in recent years when seeking funding and finding they can't continue research because they've hit a technological barrier they can't cross.
Pakrasi and his collaborators first obtained a NSF $50, 000 planning grant in 2003 to explore the topic and provide a seminar to delineate the problem and develop a plan. In 2004, they then drew up a proposal to NSF, one of 100 proposals the FIBR program considered. Washington University is one of six institutions to receive FIBR funding this year.
Team members of "A Systems Approach to Study Redox Regulation of Functions of Photosynthetic Organisms," include: Rajeev Aurora, Ph.D., of St. Louis University; Kenneth D. Belanger, Ph.D., professor of biology at Colgate University; Bijoy Ghosh, Ph.D., Washington University professor of electrical & systems engineering; and Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., Spencer T. Olin Professor and Washington University biology chair.Pakrasi and Quatrano are Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Senior investigators are: Richard D. Smith, Ph.D., of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories; Yukako Hihara, Ph.D., of Saitama University in Japan; and Victoria May, director of the Washington University Science Outreach Program.
A major component of the grant is education. It wi
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Contact: Tony Fitzpatrick
tony_fitzpatrick@wustl.edu
314-935-5272
Washington University in St. Louis
16-Sep-2004