The goal of this NSF EPSCoR III proposal is to assist in the maturation of a first-class plant biosciences/biotechnology center in Montana focused on manipulation of genes and genomes of higher plants. This center will be one of the four components that will be integrated and coordinated by the statewide Montana Biotechnology Center. The faculty involved in this proposal are all young or early mid-career scientists with eight of the 11 faculty hired since 1988. These new faculty were hired by design with the intent of building a strong plant biosciences research group in the Montana University System. This is a cohesive interdepartmental, interuniversity and interagency group with representatives from the Departments of Plant and Soil Science, Plant Pathology and Biology at Montana State University, the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Montana, and USDA/ARS scientists. This group already interacts on a regular basis through seminars, journal clubs and informal discussions; however, EPSCoR funding will have a highly significant effect on infrastructure building of plant biosciences in Montana. If we are funded, the result in 5 years will be a more highly focused group of plant scientists in Montana who are increasingly competitive for federal R&D support.
A major objective will be to successfully secure a plant sciences centers grant from USDA, NSF or DOE. Specific contributions of EPSCoR funding follow. Two new faculty positions will be initially funded (the first 2 years) by EPSCoR and subsequently converted to state funds. The molecular cytogeneticist, a critical component of the group researching genome organization and evolution, will be hired in year 1 and converted to state funds during year 3. The molecular virologist will interface with the efforts on developing mechanisms for protecting plants from viruses. This person will be hired on EPSCoR funds during year 3 and converted to state funds by year 5. We view these positions as critical additions to the group's research efforts and without EPSCoR funding to initiate these programs, we are unlikely to receive administrative approval for these positions. The establishment of a plant gene transfer facility will benefit all participants. This will be a centralized facility consisting of a Biolistic Particle Delivery System, laminar flow hoods, media preparation area, a full- time manager and part-time student employees as needed. We are requesting EPSCoR funds to pay for the full-time manager, and supplies to service the users of the facility. After year 5, funding for this facility will be picked up by the state. In addition, we are requesting stipends and support dollars to fund six graduate research assistants each year. Students will be recruited to the program and be required to do a rotation through several of the participants laboratories prior to deciding on a specific research problem. Students will be encouraged to select junior faculty for research advisors in order to assist in strengthening the competitiveness of the junior faculty. Coadvising with more senior faculty (mentors) will also be encouraged.
We will also use EPSCoR funds to cover costs of outside seminar speakers broughtin for our Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics seminar series. Seminars will be presented in Bozeman but will be simultaneously broadcast in Missoula. EPSCoR funding will be used to pay the stipend of one or two individuals chosen from smaller colleges in Montana for a summer research opportunity award. EPSCoR funding will also be used to support the travel expenses for each participant to attend one scientific meeting or workshop per year, and to defray travel costs for faculty at other colleges in Montana to come to Bozeman or Missoula to attend seminars or participate in research. Finally, in year 5 we propose to convene an international conference on Plant Genome Manipulation to be held at Big Sky, Montana. At the completion of the five-year funding period we anticipate that Montana will have a nationally competitive plant biosciences center of excellence. The focus of the center will be on genetic manipulation of plants in order to increase economic competitiveness of and maintain sustainability of plant production. With the assistance of EPSCoR funding, all participants (including the two new positions) will be successfully competing for federal grants and conducting productive research programs. The plant biosciences faculty will be heavily involved in graduate education, and undergraduate students programs will be enriched by participating in research in one of the participating labs. There are several important developments being initiated in Montana that will have significant impact on our maturing into a center of excellence within the five-year time frame.
The Montana Science and Technology Policy and Plan is committed to developing scientific infrastructure in the state of Montana. One aspect of this was toconvene seven focus groups to develop action plans for improving science and technology in the state. Two of these focus groups (Plant Agriculture and Biotechnology) recommended an increased emphasis on plant biotechnology in Montana. Given the fact that plant based agriculture is a billion dollar per year industry in Montana, it is recognized that a commitment to plant biosciences research will ensure the viability of this important industry. Importantly, there is an excellent potential for technology transfer of research results from the plant biotechnology group. For example, engineered plants with improved insect and disease resistance are likely outcomes of this groups research efforts. Additional examples of potential technology transfer are represented by the Blake lab linkages with the barley industry on genomic modification, the McCoy lab linkages with the alfalfa industry on use of protease inhibitors for controlling insects ormodifying digestibility, and the Raboy lab linkage with the corn and wheat industry on manipulation of the phytic acid biosynthetic pathway. Because of our potential contributions to improving science and technology in Montana, MSTA is agreeing to contribute a significant portion of the matching funds for this proposal.
Furthermore, the most recent funding decisions made by the MSTA Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Grants Program supported the premise of our potential contributions to Montana. Only two proposals were funded, and both of these were from members of this group. In addition, MSU is currently attempting to secure USDA funding for a new Plant Bioscience Building to be attached to the existing Plant Growth Center. This building would improve the infrastructure for plant science research. Justification for this building is the strong interactions between MSU and USDA/ARS scientists. EPSCoR funding of this proposal would help to substantiate our justification. The plant biosciences research group is well integrated with the overall Montana EPSCoR effort, and funding of this proposal will build on this integration by fostering linkages with the ASSIST and SIMMS programs. For example relative to the ASSIST program we envision hiring several Native American Indian students (at least one student for each subgroup) every summer for internship programs. In addition we are committed to hiring Native American Indian students for undergraduate research projects in the various labs. We will work with the coordinators of the ASSIST program to identify students for these programs. The students will be paid a competitive stipend from industry grants or state agency funds. The scientists involved in this proposal are committed to integrating modern plant sciences into the educational fabric of the state. We are heavily involved not only in the education of graduate and undergraduate students at our respective institutions, but also in primary, secondary and continuing education. Our scientists frequently visit local schools, and students from around the state visit us here at Bozeman several times each year to gain first-hand experience with our research projects. Our labs have hosted numerous high school students on various types of summer fellowships, and we have hosted high school science teachers interested in learning modern plant science first-hand. Our interactions with students and citizens of the state have been rewarding for both our faculty and the students. However, limited funding has restricted access of many interested parties to our labs. Funding from EPSCoR will allow us to expand our efforts in secondary and continuing education in the plant biosciences.