Organization of Terpene Specialized Metabolism in Plant Roots

智力优势：作为多细胞生物，植物依赖于高度组织化的代谢途径系统。与动物免疫系统相比，植物已经发展出复杂多样的“特化”或次级代谢，作为抵御其他生物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取食或入侵策略，植物的化学防御需要具有组织和细胞类型特异性，但同时保持足够的可塑性。本项目研究植物如何协调和微调不同细胞类型和亚细胞区室的特殊代谢途径。重点研究了模式植物拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）根部挥发性萜烯的代谢。萜烯是最常见的特化代谢物，在植物防御中具有重要的功能。本研究探讨了由根细胞类型特异性表达和胁迫诱导表达协调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，该项目解决了萜烯代谢产物的形成严格限于特定根细胞类型的问题，并检查了根中萜烯代谢的细胞器特异性调节的各个方面。更广泛的影响：预期的结果可能允许开发新的战略，可持续控制农业土壤传播的害虫和病原体，通过工程作物根系化学防御。该项目通过为弗吉尼亚理工大学开发的大学预科教育计划“植物研究与教育伙伴关系（PREP）”及其本科水平扩展（PREPu）引入新颖的实验概念，将高中和本科生教育整合到一个积极的研究项目中。对于PREPu，实验将作为本科/研究生课程“化学生态学导论”的实验室模块实施。在这个研究项目中产生的植物突变体将在两个教育项目中进行测试，以测试它们对根系攻击生物的防御特性。该研究通过调查整合了K-12和本科生的学习，促进了跨学科和转化生命科学的理解。该项目还为一名博士后、一名研究生和两名本科生提供跨学科培训和转型教育。该项目的研究有力地支持了弗吉尼亚理工大学分子植物科学项目的研究生教育，并从科学界代表性不足的群体中招募个人。

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.