Plant Physiology & Biochemistry Program

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM
Department of Horticulture and Crop Science
The Ohio State University

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PLANT PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM

I. Statement of Purpose

The mission of the Plant Physiology & Biochemistry (PP&B) group is to obtain and disseminate information about fundamental plant processes important in the production of agronomic and horticultural crops. This mission will be accomplished by:

multidisciplinary basic research programs that address practical problems, providing a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate curriculum on the physiological and biochemical basis of important plant attributes and serving as "bridging" scientists who facilitate communication and information exchange among consumers, farmers/growers and basic scientists.

II. Goals of Research

Presently the PP&B group has research programs in the following areas:

- plant-microbe interactions

- plant-insect interactions

- regulation of hormone metabolism

- physiology of seed germination

- role of peroxidases in growth and development

- flowering physiology

- post-harvest physiology

- nodule physiology and biochemistry

The diverse nature of the above research interests clearly indicates that it is impossible to define a singular set of clear research goals for the PP&B group as a whole. However, it is equally clear that all of the research programs utilize common tools of analysis and methods of experimentation. Thus, one of the main goals of the PP&B group is to create an environment that fosters sharing of physical and intellectual resources to enhance the research programs of individual faculty, while at the same time, reduce the costs of accomplishing research objectives. To accomplish this goal, the PP&B group has the following objectives:

consolidate Columbus- and Wooster-based faculty, respectively, into one location at each campus increase communication among faculty within and outside the department through retreats, a newsgroup reflector, seminars, etc. in order to foster internal cooperation and interdisciplinary research.

III. Goals of the Teaching Program

The underlying concepts and knowledge in plant physiology and biochemistry are fundamental to all other programatic areas of the Department. Thus it is critical that we provide the Department's students-both undergraduate and graduate- with the necessary knowledge and information that they need to succeed in their respective disciplines. It is just as critical that the information of physiological and biochemical processes be presented in an appropriate context that links the results from basic research to agricultural problems. With this in mind, we are proposing, in full collaboration with faculty from the Departments of Plant Biology (PB) and Plant Pathology (PP), to radically alter the way plant physiology is taught at this university. The purpose of these proposed changes is to:

Improve the relevance of physiology courses increase the quality of teaching and student numbers in those courses introduce new courses that provide all of our students with the tools they need to conduct high quality thesis research

Currently, we are working with members of both PB and PP to extensively revise and improve the courses offered by the three departments in plant physiology and biochemistry. We have proposed several important changes:

Split the current basic undergraduate course in plant physiology (PB436, 5h) into two 3h courses and cross-list these courses between PB and H&CS. Condense the current basic graduate courses in plant physiology (PB630 & PB631) into one course.

Develop and offer a new, advanced graduate-level course series on the research methods used to experimentally evaluate plants which would be co-taught by faculty from H&CS, PB and PP. This course series will be cross-listed with PB and PP.

Condense the advanced courses in plant physiology (800-level) that are presently offered by HC&S and PB into a single co-taught and cross-listed course at the 800-level.

While these proposed course changes will substantially upgrade the quality of the Department's and the University's plant physiology and biochemistry curriculum, we believe that for our educational program to provide students with an exceptional opportunity to experience a vigorous and exciting intellectual environment, the following are necessary:

Permanent financial support for the advanced graduate-level experimental methods course establishment of graduate research assistantships dedicated to PP&B establishment of funding to support graduate student travel to scientific meetings.

IV. Interaction Between the Department's Extension Outreach Programs and PP&B

Because we are a department of Horticulture & Crop Science, basic research needs to be linked to practical problems in agriculture. The linkages between basic findings and practical applications are often circuitous, or hildden, requiring discussion and further exploration to develop effectively. Thus, those who currently lead basic research programs must assume greater responsibility to explain what it is we are doing, why we are doing it, and the implications of what we have done already.

The obvious conduit for disseminating information about our research is through the Department's extension outreach programs. Unfortunately, there has been a lack of interaction between the PP&B group and extension faculty and a general lack of familiarity with grower-applications problems. To rectify this, we propose, as a beginning, that the PP&B faculty meet with interested extension faculty within and outside HC&S.

V. Future Goals and Needs

It is clear from results eminating from Project Reinvent as well as research funding trends both externally and internally that interdisciplinary team research programs will play a major role in the future of this institution. With this reality, it will be important for this Department to identify program areas where PP&B expertise and strengths allow for creation of teams that not only focus on research but on students, curriculum and outreach as well. If this Department is to develop or be a part of competitive teams in specific research areas, input from basic plant scientists will be important to the ultimate success of the team.

VI. New Position Priorities

Postdoctorals (3 to rotate among PP&B faculty) - The infusion of new ideas, techniques and skills is important to all groups within the Department. However, this is especially true for the PP&B group since physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology are among the most rapidly changing fields within plant biology. Further, as stated above, a portion of the PP&B mission is to serve as a conduit to introduce these new ideas and technologies from basic science into other groups within the Department. Since new faculty hires are somewhat random and rare events in the life of a Department, a means to bring new ideas, etc. into the PP&B group is to hire postdoctorals .

Stress Physiologist - In agriculture, crop yields are limited by a variety of environment stresses, some natural and others artificial. Every geographical area has some forms of stress that have a consistently more dramatic impact on plants than others. Modern techniques used to determine the fundamental nature of plant processes will enable the development of novel technologies that ameliorate the negative impact of stress on crop performance yield, and production costs.

This position will provide an essential link between our scientist who work to develop production technologies and the scientific community using molecular technology. This teamwork is necessary to provide the knowledge base for effective classroom, graduate and extension educational programs.

Plant Development Biologist - The products of crops used by consumers are the result of developmental processes: germination, growth, stomatal function, flowering, and seed and fruit development are just some of the developmental processes that have an enormous impact on crop production. Nevertheless, the Department, with a few exceptions, has a large gap in expertise in plant developmental biology.

The proposed development biologist position would be commodity neutral, but the incumbent would be expected to investigate developmental problems of importance to horticulture agronomic crops. The person would also be expected to have a strong background eukaryotic molecular genetics, experience in working at the whole plant level, and expertise in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, or physicology that complements their experimental approach to investigating developmental problems.

VII.Facilities

In general, facilities are adequate for conducting PP&B research. Equipment has been purchased with soft funds and funds from OARDC and the College of FAES. Most expensive equipment is shared by faculty within and outside HC&S at each location. Unfortunately, most of this equipment needs maitainence and service contracts are lacking. In addition, we need some new facilities to maintain our place as a functional, high quality teaching and research group.

VIII.Available Common Equipment

Kottman Hall (Columbus)

4- Beckman L-8 ultracentrifuges and 17 rotors 3- SorvalRC5C high speed centrifuges

2- Sorvall RC3B large volume centrifuges 2- -80C Freezers

1- Ice machine 2- Static incubators

1- Zeiss inverted fluorescence microscope 1- French Press

1- Beckman Airfuge 1- Beckman table top ultracentrifuge

1- Baking oven 1- Dish washing machine

2- Savant speed-vac concentrators 1- Vacuum oven

1- Fraction collector 1- Plant tissue culture facility

1- Cold room 1- Packard LSC

3- Chromatography refrigerators 1- Beckman Liquid Scintillation Counter

3- Laminar flow hoods 1- Electrophoresis blotter

5- New Brunswick shaking incubators 4- Plant growth chambers- 2 Percivals

1- MP4 Fotodyne camera and UV illum. system 4 - Autoclaves 1-Dark room

Howlett Hall (Columbus)

Williams and Gourley Halls (Wooster)

1- Beckman LSC 1- Beckman UV/Vis Spec (old)

1- B&L Spec 2000 UV/Vis Spec (old) 1- Diode Array Spec

1- Beckman RC2B High Speed Centr. 1- Beckman High Speed Centr. (on order)

1- LiCor Photosynthesis Meter 1- Minolta Chromameter

1 Instron Texture Instrument 1- Waters HPLC

1-SpectraPhysics HPLC 1- Incubator

1- Shaking Incubator 1- Plant Tissue Culture Facility

3- Laminar Flow Transfer Hoods 1-Olympus Dissecting Microscope

1- Olympus Cmpd. Micr. w/phase contr. 1- FreezeDryer

3- Autoclaves 1- Cold Room

1- Chromatography Cabinet 1- Refrigerated Water Bath

IX. Facilities Needed

Wooster & Columbus

- equipment service contracts subsidized by the College of FAES and OARDC

- upgrade the Department's controlled environment capabilities

Columbus

- fully equipped teaching lab

- centralized DI water system in Kottman Hall

Wooster

- lab renovation in Williams Hall to house molecular biologists

- UV/Vis spectrophotometer

X. Current FTE Distribution of OSU PP&B Faculty

Cereal Floral Nurs/ Veg Fruit

Crops Crops Forages Land Soybns Turf Crops Crops Other

A. Barta - - 0.10 - - - - - -

D. Bauer - - - - - - - - 1.00

K. Danneberger - - - - - 0.20 - - -

D. Ferree - - - - - - - 0.25 -

J. Finer 0.10 - - - 0.50 0.15 - - -

M. Knee - 0.10 - - - - - 0.40 -

M. Lagrimini - - - - - - - - 0.50

M. McMahon - 0.60 - - - - - - -

J. Metzger - 0.75 - - - - - - -

R. Miller - - - 0.10 - - 0.30 0.15 -

C. Pasian - 0.30 - - - - - - -

J. Scheerens - - - - - - - 0.40 -

J. Streeter - - - - 0.95 - - - 0.05

Total 0.10 1.75 0.10 0.10 1.45 0.35 0.30 1.20 1.55

Grand Total= 6.9

*FTE values from April 1996 H&CS Strategic Plan (except for R. Miller)

XI. PP&B Collaborators

Within H&CS Within College Within OSU Outside OSU

D. Struve J. Tew(Ent) R. Sayre(PB) R. Veilleux(VPI)

M. Bennett S. Miller(PP) K. Davis(Biotech) T. Green(LCCC)

M. McDonald T. Graham(PP) M. Evans(PB) L. Haynes(COW)

D. Francis P. Lipps(PP) O. Tuovinen(Micro) R. Hangartner(IU)

R. Pratt M. Ellis(PP) J. Hancock (MSU)

K. Campbell F. Hall(Ent) B. Goullard(PSU)

J. Street C. Hoy(Ent) A. Erb(KSU)

W. Pound L. Phelan(Ent) M. Berlinger(Israel)

S. St. Martin R. Williams(Ent) D. Levi (Israel)

P. Jourdan W. Dick(SNR) J. Abbott(USDA)

M. Rose D. Coplin(PP) A. Bhagwat(USDA)

T. Van Toi C. Edwards(Ent) D. Rodriguez(Spain)

R. Cooper A. Mort(OkSU)

Potential Future Collaborators - Faculty in the Dept. of Food Science, College of Engineering, and the Environmental Science Program

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PLANT PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM
I. Statement of Purpose
	The mission of the Plant Physiology & Biochemistry (PP&B) group is to obtain and disseminate information about fundamental plant processes important in the production of agronomic and horticultural crops. This mission will be accomplished by: multidisciplinary basic research programs that address practical problems, providing a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate curriculum on the physiological and biochemical basis of important plant attributes and serving as "bridging" scientists who facilitate communication and information exchange among consumers, farmers/growers and basic scientists.
II. Goals of Research
	Presently the PP&B group has research programs in the following areas: - plant-microbe interactions - plant-insect interactions - regulation of hormone metabolism - physiology of seed germination - role of peroxidases in growth and development - flowering physiology - post-harvest physiology - nodule physiology and biochemistry The diverse nature of the above research interests clearly indicates that it is impossible to define a singular set of clear research goals for the PP&B group as a whole. However, it is equally clear that all of the research programs utilize common tools of analysis and methods of experimentation. Thus, one of the main goals of the PP&B group is to create an environment that fosters sharing of physical and intellectual resources to enhance the research programs of individual faculty, while at the same time, reduce the costs of accomplishing research objectives. To accomplish this goal, the PP&B group has the following objectives: consolidate Columbus- and Wooster-based faculty, respectively, into one location at each campus increase communication among faculty within and outside the department through retreats, a newsgroup reflector, seminars, etc. in order to foster internal cooperation and interdisciplinary research.
III. Goals of the Teaching Program
	The underlying concepts and knowledge in plant physiology and biochemistry are fundamental to all other programatic areas of the Department. Thus it is critical that we provide the Department's students-both undergraduate and graduate- with the necessary knowledge and information that they need to succeed in their respective disciplines. It is just as critical that the information of physiological and biochemical processes be presented in an appropriate context that links the results from basic research to agricultural problems. With this in mind, we are proposing, in full collaboration with faculty from the Departments of Plant Biology (PB) and Plant Pathology (PP), to radically alter the way plant physiology is taught at this university. The purpose of these proposed changes is to: Improve the relevance of physiology courses increase the quality of teaching and student numbers in those courses introduce new courses that provide all of our students with the tools they need to conduct high quality thesis research Currently, we are working with members of both PB and PP to extensively revise and improve the courses offered by the three departments in plant physiology and biochemistry. We have proposed several important changes: Split the current basic undergraduate course in plant physiology (PB436, 5h) into two 3h courses and cross-list these courses between PB and H&CS. Condense the current basic graduate courses in plant physiology (PB630 & PB631) into one course. Develop and offer a new, advanced graduate-level course series on the research methods used to experimentally evaluate plants which would be co-taught by faculty from H&CS, PB and PP. This course series will be cross-listed with PB and PP. Condense the advanced courses in plant physiology (800-level) that are presently offered by HC&S and PB into a single co-taught and cross-listed course at the 800-level. While these proposed course changes will substantially upgrade the quality of the Department's and the University's plant physiology and biochemistry curriculum, we believe that for our educational program to provide students with an exceptional opportunity to experience a vigorous and exciting intellectual environment, the following are necessary: Permanent financial support for the advanced graduate-level experimental methods course establishment of graduate research assistantships dedicated to PP&B establishment of funding to support graduate student travel to scientific meetings.
IV. Interaction Between the Department's Extension Outreach Programs and PP&B
	Because we are a department of Horticulture & Crop Science, basic research needs to be linked to practical problems in agriculture. The linkages between basic findings and practical applications are often circuitous, or hildden, requiring discussion and further exploration to develop effectively. Thus, those who currently lead basic research programs must assume greater responsibility to explain what it is we are doing, why we are doing it, and the implications of what we have done already. The obvious conduit for disseminating information about our research is through the Department's extension outreach programs. Unfortunately, there has been a lack of interaction between the PP&B group and extension faculty and a general lack of familiarity with grower-applications problems. To rectify this, we propose, as a beginning, that the PP&B faculty meet with interested extension faculty within and outside HC&S.
V. Future Goals and Needs
	It is clear from results eminating from Project Reinvent as well as research funding trends both externally and internally that interdisciplinary team research programs will play a major role in the future of this institution. With this reality, it will be important for this Department to identify program areas where PP&B expertise and strengths allow for creation of teams that not only focus on research but on students, curriculum and outreach as well. If this Department is to develop or be a part of competitive teams in specific research areas, input from basic plant scientists will be important to the ultimate success of the team.
VI. New Position Priorities
	Postdoctorals (3 to rotate among PP&B faculty) - The infusion of new ideas, techniques and skills is important to all groups within the Department. However, this is especially true for the PP&B group since physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology are among the most rapidly changing fields within plant biology. Further, as stated above, a portion of the PP&B mission is to serve as a conduit to introduce these new ideas and technologies from basic science into other groups within the Department. Since new faculty hires are somewhat random and rare events in the life of a Department, a means to bring new ideas, etc. into the PP&B group is to hire postdoctorals . Stress Physiologist - In agriculture, crop yields are limited by a variety of environment stresses, some natural and others artificial. Every geographical area has some forms of stress that have a consistently more dramatic impact on plants than others. Modern techniques used to determine the fundamental nature of plant processes will enable the development of novel technologies that ameliorate the negative impact of stress on crop performance yield, and production costs. This position will provide an essential link between our scientist who work to develop production technologies and the scientific community using molecular technology. This teamwork is necessary to provide the knowledge base for effective classroom, graduate and extension educational programs. Plant Development Biologist - The products of crops used by consumers are the result of developmental processes: germination, growth, stomatal function, flowering, and seed and fruit development are just some of the developmental processes that have an enormous impact on crop production. Nevertheless, the Department, with a few exceptions, has a large gap in expertise in plant developmental biology. The proposed development biologist position would be commodity neutral, but the incumbent would be expected to investigate developmental problems of importance to horticulture agronomic crops. The person would also be expected to have a strong background eukaryotic molecular genetics, experience in working at the whole plant level, and expertise in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, or physicology that complements their experimental approach to investigating developmental problems.
VII.Facilities
	In general, facilities are adequate for conducting PP&B research. Equipment has been purchased with soft funds and funds from OARDC and the College of FAES. Most expensive equipment is shared by faculty within and outside HC&S at each location. Unfortunately, most of this equipment needs maitainence and service contracts are lacking. In addition, we need some new facilities to maintain our place as a functional, high quality teaching and research group.
VIII.Available Common Equipment
	Kottman Hall (Columbus) 4- Beckman L-8 ultracentrifuges and 17 rotors 3- SorvalRC5C high speed centrifuges 2- Sorvall RC3B large volume centrifuges 2- -80C Freezers 1- Ice machine 2- Static incubators 1- Zeiss inverted fluorescence microscope 1- French Press 1- Beckman Airfuge 1- Beckman table top ultracentrifuge 1- Baking oven 1- Dish washing machine 2- Savant speed-vac concentrators 1- Vacuum oven 1- Fraction collector 1- Plant tissue culture facility 1- Cold room 1- Packard LSC 3- Chromatography refrigerators 1- Beckman Liquid Scintillation Counter 3- Laminar flow hoods 1- Electrophoresis blotter 5- New Brunswick shaking incubators 4- Plant growth chambers- 2 Percivals 1- MP4 Fotodyne camera and UV illum. system 4 - Autoclaves 1-Dark room Howlett Hall (Columbus) Williams and Gourley Halls (Wooster) 1- Beckman LSC 1- Beckman UV/Vis Spec (old) 1- B&L Spec 2000 UV/Vis Spec (old) 1- Diode Array Spec 1- Beckman RC2B High Speed Centr. 1- Beckman High Speed Centr. (on order) 1- LiCor Photosynthesis Meter 1- Minolta Chromameter 1 Instron Texture Instrument 1- Waters HPLC 1-SpectraPhysics HPLC 1- Incubator 1- Shaking Incubator 1- Plant Tissue Culture Facility 3- Laminar Flow Transfer Hoods 1-Olympus Dissecting Microscope 1- Olympus Cmpd. Micr. w/phase contr. 1- FreezeDryer 3- Autoclaves 1- Cold Room 1- Chromatography Cabinet 1- Refrigerated Water Bath
IX. Facilities Needed
	Wooster & Columbus - equipment service contracts subsidized by the College of FAES and OARDC - upgrade the Department's controlled environment capabilities Columbus - fully equipped teaching lab - centralized DI water system in Kottman Hall Wooster - lab renovation in Williams Hall to house molecular biologists - UV/Vis spectrophotometer
X. Current FTE Distribution of OSU PP&B Faculty
	Cereal Floral Nurs/ Veg Fruit Crops Crops Forages Land Soybns Turf Crops Crops Other A. Barta - - 0.10 - - - - - - D. Bauer - - - - - - - - 1.00 K. Danneberger - - - - - 0.20 - - - D. Ferree - - - - - - - 0.25 - J. Finer 0.10 - - - 0.50 0.15 - - - M. Knee - 0.10 - - - - - 0.40 - M. Lagrimini - - - - - - - - 0.50 M. McMahon - 0.60 - - - - - - - J. Metzger - 0.75 - - - - - - - R. Miller - - - 0.10 - - 0.30 0.15 - C. Pasian - 0.30 - - - - - - - J. Scheerens - - - - - - - 0.40 - J. Streeter - - - - 0.95 - - - 0.05 Total 0.10 1.75 0.10 0.10 1.45 0.35 0.30 1.20 1.55 Grand Total= 6.9 *FTE values from April 1996 H&CS Strategic Plan (except for R. Miller)
XI. PP&B Collaborators
	Within H&CS Within College Within OSU Outside OSU D. Struve J. Tew(Ent) R. Sayre(PB) R. Veilleux(VPI) M. Bennett S. Miller(PP) K. Davis(Biotech) T. Green(LCCC) M. McDonald T. Graham(PP) M. Evans(PB) L. Haynes(COW) D. Francis P. Lipps(PP) O. Tuovinen(Micro) R. Hangartner(IU) R. Pratt M. Ellis(PP) J. Hancock (MSU) K. Campbell F. Hall(Ent) B. Goullard(PSU) J. Street C. Hoy(Ent) A. Erb(KSU) W. Pound L. Phelan(Ent) M. Berlinger(Israel) S. St. Martin R. Williams(Ent) D. Levi (Israel) P. Jourdan W. Dick(SNR) J. Abbott(USDA) M. Rose D. Coplin(PP) A. Bhagwat(USDA) T. Van Toi C. Edwards(Ent) D. Rodriguez(Spain) R. Cooper A. Mort(OkSU) Potential Future Collaborators - Faculty in the Dept. of Food Science, College of Engineering, and the Environmental Science Program