Project Number: 1907-21000-027-05
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 17, 2006
End Date: Sep 16, 2011

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to use genetic approaches to identify molecular components and mechanisms that regulate gene expression in Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (hereafter DC3000), a pathogen of tomato and Arabidopsis. The project will focus primarily on regulatory pathways that are thought to be important in the development of disease. The materials and data generated by this effort will be analyzed by ARS to generate computational models for gene regulation.

Approach:
A wide variety of methodologies will be used to dissect gene regulation, and new strategies will be developed as required. The range of possible techniques include the generation, selection and screening of mutants under various conditions, the creation of targeted mutants using molecular methods, and the construction of strains that over-express genes of interest. In addition, the project is likely to employ high throughput techniques such as robotics to aid in the screening of large numbers of strains in parallel, or test the response of DC3000 in multiple environmental conditions.