Project Grant 2347540

This $300,000 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports research on the variability and regulation of the plant polyadenylation complex, a key mechanism underlying plant responses to environmental and developmental cues. The project, led by Western University of Health Sciences, aims to better understand the connections between specific environmental/developmental signals and the composition and activity of the polyadenylation complex across different plant cell types and tissues. The research will utilize a range of experimental approaches, including single-cell transcriptomics, to study polyadenylation complex function and composition in the model plant Arabidopsis. This work is expected to yield new insights into an evolutionarily-conserved biological process with implications for understanding and improving plant growth, development, and responses to various stresses - insights that may benefit future crop breeding efforts. The grant will also support training opportunities for postdoctoral scientists, graduate students, and undergraduates at Western University and other institutions.