NSF NPGI Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2014

这一行动为NSF国家植物基因组计划2014财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持在东道主实验室为该研究员制定的研究和培训计划，该研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与度的计划。罗伯特·范布伦的这项研究和培训计划的标题是“干旱诱导的CAM光合作用进化的生理和基因组特征的表征”该奖学金的主办机构是唐纳德·丹福斯植物科学中心，赞助科学家是道格·艾伦和托德·莫克勒博士。如果这个项目成功，这个项目将为干旱胁迫下植物从C3转换到CAM光合作用时发生的生理和基因表达变化提供重要的新见解。培训目标包括功能基因组学、比较基因组学、生理学测量和下一代测序数据集的分析。更广泛的影响包括通过技术主干和绿色手段增长计划为高中教师设计关于基因组学、基因表达和生物信息学的教学模块。将开发用于高中生物课堂的动手分子生物学和生物信息学课程计划。更广泛的影响还包括对高中生和本科生的科学培训和指导。焦虑症是一个全球性问题，了解如何应对它是在不断变化的气候下增加粮食产量的核心。CaM光合作用代表了一种减轻干旱胁迫的新方法，因为CAM植物比典型的C3物种少消耗80%的水分。所有植物都含有CAM光合作用所必需的基因；进化的CAM只需要改变先前存在的路径。本项目的重点是了解干旱胁迫下植物从C3到CAM光合作用发生的生理和基因表达变化，并识别在从C3谱系进化到CAM过程中招募的基因和调控序列的变化。将研究来自代表CAM个体起源的两个植物科的C3和CAM物种。具体目标包括(1)测定干旱胁迫下C3向CAM的生理生化转变，为(2)RNAseq基因表达实验提供框架。(3)将生成相关C3和CAM物种的全基因组序列；(4)将利用比较基因组学来鉴定在CAM进化过程中招募的基因和调控序列。

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2014. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Robert Van Buren is "Characterization of the Physiological and Genomic Signatures of Drought Induced CAM Photosynthesis Evolution" The host institution for the fellowship is the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Doug Allen and Todd Mockler.If successful, this project will provide significant new insight into the physiological and gene expression changes that occur when plants switch from C3 to CAM photosynthesis under drought stress. Training objectives include functional genomics, comparative genomics, physiology measurements and analysis of next generation sequencing datasets. Broader impacts include designing teaching modules on genomics, gene expression and bioinformatics for high school teachers through the tech trunk and green means grow programs. Hands-on molecular biology and bioinformatics lesson plans will be developed for use in high school biology classrooms. Broader impacts also include scientific training and mentoring of students at the high school and undergraduate level.Drought is a global problem and understanding how to combat it is central to increasing food production under the changing climate. CAM photosynthesis represents a novel way to reduce drought stress as CAM plants use 80% less water than typical C3 species. All plants contain the genes necessary for CAM photosynthesis; evolving CAM simply requires rerouting preexisting pathways. This project focuses on understanding the physiological and gene expression changes that occur when plants switch from C3 to CAM photosynthesis under drought stress, and identifying changes in gene and regulatory sequences recruited during the evolution of CAM from C3 lineages. C3 and CAM species from two plant families representing individual origins of CAM will be studied. Specific aims include (1) measuring the physiological and biochemical transitions from C3 to CAM under drought stress to provide a framework for (2) RNAseq gene expression experiments. (3) Whole genome sequences of related C3 and CAM species will be generated and (4) comparative genomics will be used to identify genes and regulatory sequences recruited during CAM evolution.