DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Refining decomposition models using a model system: Arabidopsis thaliana

这项研究生论文研究使用了一种名为拟南芥的小植物的基因突变，以提高对生态系统中死亡植物材料分解速度的预测。在全球范围内，枯死的植物材料储存了大量的碳和其他营养物质。随着这种物质的分解，碳被转化为二氧化碳，这是一种温室气体，并释放到大气中，在那里它加剧了全球变暖。因此，分解是一个具有全球影响的关键过程。在她的博士导师和其他研究人员的合作下，这位学生还帮助完善了基于行会的分解模型。GDM是一种理论模型，它根据枯死植物材料的化学成分来预测分解速度。在过去，很难测试这个模型(和其他模型)背后的理论，因为直接改变植物材料中特定类型的化合物在技术上具有挑战性。然而，这位学生通过使用在木质素和纤维素的产生上不同的遗传突变找到了解决方案，这两种化合物是植物中的两种主要化合物。她正在分解阿拉斯加北部森林中这些突变体的死亡物质，她将把她的结果与当前版本的GDM预测的结果进行比较。然后，她将对模型进行相应的改进，以提高其预测能力。她的工作将推进对气候变化的预测。

This graduate student dissertation study is using genetic mutants of a small plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, to improve predictions of how quickly dead plant material decomposes in ecosystems. Globally, dead plant material stores vast quantities of carbon and other nutrients. As this material decomposes, the carbon is converted to CO2, a greenhouse gas, and released to the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming. Thus, decomposition is a critical process with global consequences.In collaboration with her PhD advisor and other researchers, the student is also helping to refine the ?Guild-based Decomposition Model?. GDM is a theoretical model that predicts decomposition rates based on the chemical composition of dead plant material. In the past, it has been difficult to test the theory underlying this model (and others), because it has been technologically challenging to directly alter specific types of chemical compounds in plant material. However, the student has found a solution by using genetic mutants that differ in the production of lignin and cellulose, the two dominant chemical compounds in plants. She is decomposing dead material from these mutants in an Alaskan boreal forest, and she will compare her results to those predicted by the current version of GDM. She will then refine the model accordingly to improve its predictive power. Her work will advance predictions of climate change.