Organization of Terpene Specialized Metabolism in Plant Roots

植物根部萜类专门代谢的组织

• 批准号: 0950865
• 负责人: Dorothea Tholl
• 金额: $ 53.78万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-01 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0950865&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Organization; Terpene; Specialized; Metabolism; Plant

Intellectual Merit:As multicellular organisms, plants rely on a highly organized system of metabolic pathways. Compared to the animal immune system, plants have developed a complex and diverse 'specialized', or secondary, metabolism as an important defense mechanism against attack by other organisms. Since insects and microbial pathogens use different strategies of feeding or invasion, plant chemical defenses need to be tissue and cell-type specific but, at the same time, maintain a sufficient level of plasticity. This project investigates how plants coordinate and fine-tune specialized metabolic pathways in different cell types and subcellular compartments. Focus is placed on the metabolism of volatile terpenes in roots of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Terpenes are the most common specialized metabolites with significant functions in plant defense. The study explores the genetic organization and biochemical function of terpene biosynthesis modules consisting of enzymes coordinated by root cell-type specific and stress-induced expression. Furthermore, the project addresses the question of how strictly the formation of terpene metabolites is limited to particular root cell types and examines aspects of the organelle-specific regulation of terpene metabolism in roots.Broader Impacts:Expected results may allow developing novel strategies for sustainable control of agricultural soil-borne pests and pathogens by engineering root chemical defenses in crop plants. The project integrates high school and undergraduate student education into an active research project by introducing novel experimental concepts for the pre-college education program "Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP)" and its undergraduate-level extension (PREPu), developed at Virginia Tech. For PREPu, experiments will be implemented as a laboratory module in the undergraduate/graduate course "Introduction to Chemical Ecology". Plant mutants generated in this research project will be tested in both educational programs for their defense properties against root-attacking organisms. The study integrates K-12 and undergraduate student learning through investigation and promotes understanding of interdisciplinary and translational life science. The project further provides interdisciplinary training and transformative education for one postdoctoral fellow, one graduate student, and two undergraduate students. Research on this project strongly supports graduate education in the Molecular Plant Sciences Program at Virginia Tech and recruitment of individuals from groups underrepresented in science.

智力优点：作为多细胞生物，植物依赖于高度有组织的代谢途径系统。与动物免疫系统相比，植物已经开发出一种复杂而多样的“专业”或次要的代谢，作为针对其他生物体攻击的重要防御机制。由于昆虫和微生物病原体采用不同的喂养或侵袭策略，因此植物化学防御需要特定于组织和细胞类型，但同时保持了足够的可塑性。该项目研究了植物如何在不同的细胞类型和亚细胞室中协调和微调专用代谢途径。将重点放在模型植物拟南芥根中挥发性萜烯的代谢上。萜烯是最常见的专业代谢物，在植物防御中具有重要功能。该研究探讨了由根细胞型特异性和应激诱导的表达配合的酶组成的萜烯生物合成模块的遗传组织和生化功能。此外，该项目解决了一个问题，即萜烯代谢产物的形成如何仅限于特定的根细胞类型，并检查了根部对萜烯代谢的特定于细胞器特异性调节的各个方面。结果：预期的结果可能允许为农业植物元素和生根作用型造型提供新颖的策略，以开发新的策略，以促进农质植物的可持续控制。该项目将高中和本科生教育纳入了一个活跃的研究项目中，通过引入新的实验概念，用于“植物研究和植物研究与教育的合作伙伴关系”及其本科生级扩展（Prepu），该计划是在弗吉尼亚理工大学开发的。对于Prepu，将在本科/研究生课程“化学生态学简介”中作为实验室模块实施实验。该研究项目中产生的植物突变体将在两项教育计划中进行测试，以抗根攻击生物体的防御能力。该研究通过调查整合K-12和本科生学习，并促进对跨学科和转化生命科学的理解。该项目还为一名博士后研究员，一名研究生和两名本科生提供了跨学科的培训和变革性教育。对该项目的研究强烈支持弗吉尼亚理工大学分子植物科学计划的研究生教育，并从科学领域的人数不足的群体中招募个人。