Transforming Chemical Ecology by Enabling Measurement of Volatile Compounds in the Field

该项目将在落基山生物实验室(RMBL)安装一台气相色谱-质谱仪(GC-MS)，从而向野外生物学家开放嗅觉世界。气味作为五种感官之一，在昆虫和其他动物与植物的相互作用中发挥着重要作用，包括植物是否授粉或被吃掉。由于人类摄入的卡路里有三分之一来自由动物授粉的植物，因此对授粉的基本了解对粮食安全很重要。更广泛地说，由于与免疫系统相关的原因，气味会影响动物识别亲戚、选择配偶、记住事件和赋予它们情感价值的方式。最近的突破允许使用GC-MS来检测排放到空气中的非常少量的化学物质。目前部署的设备主要局限于人工的实验室环境。这个项目将为来自美国各地的学生和科学家提供一个机会，研究化学物质在自然野外环境中调节植物和动物之间的关系中的作用。具体的研究项目将包括探索在吸引传粉者的同时避免被吃掉的压力如何影响植物的进化，化学物质如何影响昆虫吃植物的地方，以及揭示昆虫开始将植物作为食物的进化途径。RMBL将为科学家和学生提供如何使用设备的培训，通过我们的教育项目接触到不同的文化群体，少数族裔参与率很高。该项目将在落基山生物实验室安装最先进的岛津气相色谱-质谱仪(GC-MS)2010Ultra，具有热解吸和传统的溶剂解吸进样端口。利用最近的技术改进，该设备将能够从生态环境中识别植物排放的挥发性化学物质。该项目将在美国的一个主要研究现场站向用户提供第一台这样的仪器，并将通过以具有成本效益的方式改善获得仪器的机会来加强科学基础设施。除了支持来自世界各地的许多科学家的研究外，Co-Pi的Diane Campbell(加州大学欧文分校)和Robert Raguso(康奈尔大学)将把花的挥发物(例如吲哚和α-品烯)纳入研究，研究与传粉者和种子捕食者的相互作用如何影响花卉性状组合的自然选择。艾米丽·穆尼(大学科罗拉多州科罗拉多州斯普林斯分校)和凯伦·穆尼(加州大学欧文分校)将分别建立在过去和正在进行的关于草本植物寄主Ligusticum porteri、当地优势食草性昆虫Aphis helianthi以及攻击和保护Aphis的捕食者和蚂蚁之间相互作用的研究基础上。诺亚·怀特曼(加州大学伯克利分校)将识别豆蔻的挥发物，以设计实验，在行为试验中将黑腹扇贝果蝇暴露在活性化合物中，这是他研究草食动物潜在进化基因组结构的工作的一部分。此外，RMBL将提供化学分析方面的培训，包括为期一周的新手课程，以及那些有GC-MS经验但没有特定型号机器的人的课程。我们将把这些设备整合到培训一支多元化的科学队伍中。在我们的本科研究体验项目中，超过38%的参与者是少数族裔。我们预计，这些学生中的一些人将学习分析色谱图，将他们的技能扩展到生物学之外，从而增加未来的职业机会。有关落基山生物实验室的更多信息，请访问rmbl.org。

This project will open up the world of smell to exploration by field biologists by installing a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-Mass Spec) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). As one of the five senses, smell plays a large role in how insects and other animals interact with plants, including whether a plant is pollinated or eaten. Because one-third of the calories that humans eat come from plants that are pollinated by animals, a basic understanding of pollination is important to food security. More broadly, smell, for reasons related to immune systems, affects how animals recognize relatives, choose mates, remember events and attach emotional value to them. Recent breakthroughs allow the use of a GC-Mass Spec to detect very small amounts of chemicals emitted into the air. Currently deployed equipment has primarily been confined to artificial, laboratory settings. This project will provide students and scientists from across the United States an opportunity to study the role of chemicals in mediating the relationships between plants and animals in a natural, field setting. Specific research projects will include exploring how the simultaneous pressures of avoiding being eaten while attracting pollinators affect the evolution of plants, the manner in which chemicals affect where insects eat plants, as well as shed light into the evolutionary pathways by which insects began to use plants as food. RMBL will provide training to scientists and students on how to use the equipment, reaching diverse cultural groups through our education programs, which have a high minority participation rate.This project will install a state-of-the-art Shimadzu Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) 2010 Ultra, with both thermal desorption and conventional solvent-desorption injection ports, at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Taking advantage of recent technological improvements, this equipment will allow the identification of volatile chemicals emitted by plants in an ecological context. This project will provide the first such instrument to users at a major research field station in the US and will enhance scientific infrastructure by improving access to instrumentation on a cost effective basis. In addition to supporting research by scores of scientists from around the world, Co-PI's Diane Campbell (UC-Irvine) and Robert Raguso (Cornell) will incorporate floral volatiles (e.g., indole and á-pinene) into studies of how interactions with pollinators and seed predators influence natural selection on floral trait combinations. Emily Mooney (Univ. of CO, Colorado Springs) and Kailen Mooney (UC-Irvine) will build upon past and ongoing studies of the interactions between the herbaceous host plant Ligusticum porteri, the aphid Aphis helianthi, its locally dominant insect herbivore, and the predators and ants that attack and protect the aphid, respectively. As part of his work on the evolutionary genomic architecture underlying herbivory, Noah Whiteman (UC-Berkeley) will identify volatiles from Cardamine cordifolia in order to design experiments to expose Scaptomyza nigrita flies to active compounds in behavior trials. Additionally, RMBL will offer training in chemical analysis, including a one-week course for novices and a course for those who have experience with GC-MS but not the particular model machine. We will integrate the equipment in training of a diverse scientific workforce. More than 38% of participants in our Research Experience for Undergraduate program are minorities. We anticipate that some of these students will learn to analyze chromatograms, extending their skill sets beyond biology and thereby enhancing future career opportunities. More information about the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory can be found at rmbl.org.