CAREER: Understanding Molecular Networks Controlling Plant Glucosinolate Metabolism

该奖项根据 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）提供资助。 智力成果：植物产生数千种对其生长、发育以及与环境相互作用至关重要的化学物质。其中许多化学物质（例如硫代葡萄糖苷）会影响农业实践、人类营养和健康。芥子油苷是硫代葡萄糖苷的主要类别，具有多种生物活性，包括防御病原体和昆虫。它们存在于重要的芸苔属作物以及模式植物拟南芥中，拟南芥将用于拟议的研究。为了对植物进行工程改造以提高作物质量和产量、创造可再生能源并开发营养保健品，必须定义复杂代谢网络（如芥子油苷生产中涉及的代谢网络）的组织和连接性。研究小组将利用现代生物工具来了解调节植物芥子油苷代谢的化学网络。该项目预计将鉴定包括蛋白质和代谢物在内的新型化学成分，并将其置于芥子油苷代谢的功能背景中。该研究预计将提供硫代葡萄糖苷代谢背后的调控和代谢机制的全面知识，这将有助于开发具有增强防御能力和提高质量的作物。所采用的方法将为其他重要植物途径的未来网络分析提供技术开发。 更广泛的影响：除了科学影响外，该项目还将涉及对不同级别学生的多学科培训，并将植物化工厂和现代功能基因组学的当前知识带入高中课堂。高中教师和学生的教育和培训将有助于有效培养具有尖端生物科学的下一代科学家和公民。将为高中生和教师开展功能基因组学教育/培训活动，包括在线功能基因组学资源。该项目产生的大规模数据将为主动学习、批判性思维和解决问题提供优秀的材料。因此，更广泛的影响包括促进对重要植物化学过程的发现和理解，以及建立一个向高中教师和学生展示现代科学研究和技术的平台。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Intellectual Merit: Plants produce thousands of chemicals that are important to their growth, development and interaction with the environment. Many of these chemicals, such as glucosinolates, impact agricultural practice, human nutrition and health. Glucosinolates are a major group of thioglucosides with diverse biological activities, including defense against pathogens and insects. They are present in important Brassica crops as well as in the model plant Arabidopsis, which will be used for the proposed research. In order to engineer plants to improve crop quality and yield, create renewable energy and develop nutraceuticals, it will be essential to define the organization and connectivity of complex metabolic networks like those involved in glucosinolate production. The research team will use modern biological tools to understand the chemical networks that regulate plant glucosinolate metabolism. The project is expected to identify novel chemical components including proteins and metabolites and put them into functional context of glucosinolate metabolism. The research is expected to provide comprehensive knowledge of regulatory and metabolic mechanisms underlying glucosinolate metabolism that will help to develop crops with enhanced defense and improved quality. The approaches employed will provide technology development for future network analysis of other important plant pathways.Broader Impacts: In addition to the scientific impacts, this project will involve multidisciplinary training of students at different levels, as well as bring current knowledge of the plant chemical factory and modern functional genomics to high school classrooms. Education and training of high school teachers and students will facilitate effective preparation of our next-generation scientists and citizens with cutting-edge biological sciences. Educational/training activities will be developed for high school students and teachers in functional genomics, including online functional genomics resources. The large-scale data generated by this project will provide excellent materials for active learning, critical thinking, and problem solving. Thus, the broader impacts include advancing the discovery and understanding of essential plant chemical processes and establishing a platform to expose modern scientific research and technologies to high school teachers and their students.