Research Abstract:
The central approach in most of the biological sciences during the last half of the twentieth century has been based on reductionism, and has resulted in a massive increase in our knowledge of individual cellular components. However, we have also realized that while we know how the individual "nuts and bolts" function in isolation, our understanding of how these components interact with each other to define the cellular, organismal, and population level behaviors of living beings has remained far less sophisticated. A "Systems Biology" approach should provide enabling technologies to examine complex biological processes, which should in turn result in an integrated and predictive understanding of how an organism behaves and responds to environmental changes. The successful implementation of a systems approach requires collaborative interactions between biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians and model builders, engineers, physicists, chemists, and perhaps specialists in other disciplines.
The goal of this project is to use systems biology approaches to determine the underlying network' that governs photosynthetic processes in cyanobacteria, vascular plants (Arabidopsis) and mosses. In photosynthetic organisms, the cellular components are always in flux, and molecular machines assemble, function and disassemble as a function of time and environmental alterations such as light intensity and nutrient availability. It is imperative to utilize a systems biology approach and integrate temporal information form microarray and proteomic studies into a predictive, dynamic model to understand the functioning of a photosynthetic organism. We have recently initiated two large scale, multi-institutional, systems biology projects (NSF-FIBR and PNNL Grand Challenge).
Selected Publications:
Kashino Y, Inoue-Kashino N, Roose, JL, Pakrasi, HB. Absence of the PsbQ protein results in destabilization of the PsbV protein and decreased oxygen evolution activity in cyanobacterial Photosystem II. J Biol Chem 2006 281:20834-20841.
Koropatkin NM, Pakrasi HB, Smith TJ. Atomic structure of a nitrate-binding protein crucial for photosynthetic productivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006 103:9820-9825.
Liberton M, Berg RH, Heuser J, Roth R, Pakrasi, HB. Ultrastructure of the membrane systems in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Protoplasma 2006 227:129-138.
Keren N, Ohkawa H, Welsh EA, Liberton M, Pakrasi HB. Psb29, a Conserved 22-kD Protein, Functions in the Biogenesis of Photosystem II Complexes in Synechocystis and Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 2005 17:2768-2781.
Thornton LE, Ohkawa H, Roose JL, Kashino Y, Keren N, Pakrasi HB. Homologs of plant PsbP and PsbQ proteins are necessary for regulation of photosystem II activity in the cyanobacterium, Synechocystis6803. Plant Cell 2004 16:2164-2175.
Last Updated: 08/16/2006 |