Metabolomics: Advancing the Scientific Promise to Better Understand Plant Specialized Metabolism for a Low-Carbon Society

智力价值：代谢物是生命的基石和能量来源。代谢组学是对代谢物的大规模研究，它正在彻底改变我们对植物新陈代谢和新基因功能的理解，但由于多重技术挑战，它的全部科学前景尚未实现。这些挑战包括对代谢物的准确化学识别和对新陈代谢的时空分布的深入了解。为了解决这些问题，一个由植物代谢组学和新陈代谢专家组成的协同国际团队将使用综合方法来推动关键技术开发。该项目将使用这些使能技术，以更好地了解与能源和低碳社会相关的碳封存和分配。主要的生物学目标是发现和阐明与细胞壁成分(特别是木质素和苯丙素)和能量密度脂类代谢有关的关键基因。主要的技术目标是开发先进的分析技术，并将其用于两个模式植物--拟南芥和紫花苜蓿(紫花苜蓿的近亲)的系统和数据定向的代谢组学注释。更广泛的影响：该项目将通过促进我们对碳分配和分配的理解，使生物能源植物的工程成为可能，从而为低碳社会做出贡献。将开发新的和复杂的代谢组学技术，从而扩大代谢组学的覆盖面。有价值的谱库将被生成并分发给代谢组学社区。美国和日本科学家和机构之间的合作关系将通过一个对外交流计划得到加强。该项目将为四名美国博士后研究人员提供植物代谢组学、分子生物学、集成系统生物学和尖端分析生物化学方面的多学科培训。每年将举办代谢学实践研讨会，为国际代谢界提供进修机会。该项目每年将为本科生提供三次暑期研究体验。

Intellectual Merit: Metabolites are the building blocks and energy sources of life. Metabolomics, the large-scale study of metabolites, is revolutionizing our understanding of plant metabolism and novel gene function, but its full scientific promise has not been realized due to multiple technical challenges. These challenges include the accurate chemical identification of metabolites and a sophisticated understanding of the spatial/temporal distribution of metabolism. To address these issues, a synergistic international team of plant metabolomics and metabolism experts will use an integrated approach to push key technical developments. The project will use these enabling technologies to gain a better understanding of carbon sequestration and allocation in relationship to energy and a low carbon society. The major biological objective is to discover and elucidate key genes involved in metabolism of cell wall components (especially lignin and phenylpropanoids) and energy dense lipids. The major technical objective is to develop advanced analytical technologies and use them for the systematic and data directed metabolome annotation of two model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula (a close relative of alfalfa, Medicago sativa). Broader Impacts: This project will enable the engineering of plants for bioenergy by advancing our understanding of carbon allocation and partitioning and, thus, contribute to a low carbon society. Novel and sophisticated metabolomics technologies will be developed, resulting in increased metabolomics coverage. Valuable spectral libraries will be generated and distributed to the metabolomics community. Collaborative relationships between US and Japanese scientists and institutions will be strengthened through a foreign exchange program. The project will provide multi-disciplinary training for four USA postdoctoral researchers in plant metabolomics, molecular biology, integrated systems biology, and cutting-edge analytical biochemistry. Hands-on metabolomics workshops will be conducted each year to provide advanced educational opportunities for the international metabolomics community. This project will support three summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) students each year.