Project Grant R35GM156366

This $574,021 Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Biomedical Research and Research Training Program (CFDA 93.859) aims to unravel the molecular interconnections between circadian rhythms and lipid metabolism. The research will address three key knowledge gaps: 1) how phosphatidic acid (PA) mediates nuclear processes, 2) how PA and lipid metabolism modulate the circadian clock, and 3) how the molecular clock regulates lipid metabolism. The project will integrate multiple strategies, including lipid imaging, subcellular lipidomics, lipid-protein interactome analysis, multiplex genomic editing, and non-invasive phenotyping, leveraging resources developed in the Arabidopsis model organism. This research is expected to advance the understanding of PA's role in mitogenesis and stress responses, elucidate the mechanism by which lipid metabolic malfunctions perturb clock function, and identify potential applications to improve plant resilience and lipid production. With the conservation of the molecular clock between plants and humans, and the relevance of PA, the circadian clock, and their production enzymes in pathophysiological processes, the findings have significant public health implications.