Module 1 Home

Biological Lab

Social Science Issue

Process of Science

Web Exercise

Introduction to the Pseudomonas-Plant Interaction Project	Go to Quiz
Biological research produces huge volumes of data, but unless others in the research community can locate and understand that data it won't be very useful. Here you will learn about resources at the Pseudomonas-Plant Interaction Website that communicate information on the Pseudomonas syringae genome sequence as well as other research findings to the scientific community

Part I: The PPI Project

As you have learned in this module, plants, like people, can be attacked by many different microorganisms. In plant pathology, researchers study these pathogens and the diseases they cause. Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato is a plant-pathogenic bacterium that causes bacterial speck disease on tomato plants and serves as a MODEL SYSTEM for other diseases.

This is a particularly exciting time to study biology, because researchers now have access to the complete genome sequences of many pathogens. GENOMICS, or the study of the entire genome of an organism, allows scientists to better understand an organism's biology and its interactions with other organisms.

The Pseudomonas-Plant Interaction (PPI) project is a large research project currently being conducted by many scientists across the country. Its goal is to study the genomics of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and how it interacts with the tomato plant.

More about the PPI project can be found on the genome resources home page

Some of the resources on the PPI website include:

• guides for finding and looking at genes encoded by the genome
• lists of important virulence proteins
• changes made to the genome description that reflect new discoveries

Descriptions of some of the scientists working on this project as well as an interviews with graduate students can be found at Meet the Scientists

Part II: QUIZ

What did you learn during this module?  Find out with this online Quiz!