Scientist's fight against tomato disease receives boost

NEWS RELEASE
Issued - March 10, 2009

ARDMORE, Okla. — When Rao Uppalapati examines the tomato plants in his laboratory and finds spots surrounded by yellow haloes, he knows there is a full-scale war waging within.

Tomatoes, like all other plants, use hormones to regulate development and defend against pathogens. However, pathogens have their own tricks. When the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae infects a tomato plant it produces a toxic compound called coronatine, which literally mimics a growth hormone (jasmonic acid) and hijacks the hormone's pathway. The newly conquered pathway is a molecular, four-lane highway for disease to invade the plant.

This is where Uppalapati comes in. As a research scientist with The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Uppalapati seeks to understand coronatine and identify its molecular targets in an effort to improve tomato plant health.

"Anybody that has seen a tomato plant has, at one time or another, seen the yellowish spots," Uppalapati said. "That's because coronatine is a phytotoxin. It is literally killing the chlorophyll in that area of the plant. From our perspective, they look like little spots but the tomato is fighting for its life."

Originally from India and a Ph.D. graduate from the Nagasaki University in Japan, Uppalapati has researched the intricacies of coronatine for seven years since he was a postdoctoral fellow ("postdoc") at Oklahoma State University under Carol Bender, Ph.D. When he arrived at the Noble Foundation as a postdoc, he continued his research, and his efforts were recently rewarded.

Uppalapati received a two-year, $82,000 grant from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). Uppalapati's grant was part of seven OCAST grants awarded as part of the third round of research to receive support under the Oklahoma Plant Science Research program, which began in 2007.

Uppalapati said receiving the grant exemplified yet another advantage of working at the Noble Foundation.

"At many other research institutions, only a laboratory's lead scientists are allowed to apply for grants," Uppalapati said. "At the Noble Foundation, not only can research scientists apply, but our lead scientists help us, providing mentorship and assistance through the grant-making processes. I am very thankful for the tremendous amount of support from my colleagues at the Noble Foundation and for this important grant."

So are the tomatoes.

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For media inquiries concerning the Noble Foundation, please contact:

J. Adam Calaway

jacalaway@noble.org

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.