The objective of this project is to to perform a comprehensive study of regulatory (transcriptional and miRNA) networks underlying the nutrient stress-induced lipid accumulation response. They intend to use the information to develop an ENCODE-like working model of DNA regulatory elements associated with nutrient-responsive control of lipid accumulation phenotype (LAP) and biomass production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii –a model for characterizing biofuel production by algae. The model will identify transcriptional regulators of LAP versus biomass production under three different nutrient-limited conditions (N, P, S) to generate strategies for increasing total biofuel yield per unit biomass. The results from this approach will generate a predictive model for the gene regulatory network of C. reinhardtii that can be used to uncover targets for engineering genetic circuits towards the goal of biofuel production and carbon sequestration strategies.
Proposer’s Name: Nitin Baliga, Institute of Systems Biology