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

该项目将通过在落基山生物实验室（RMBL）安装气相色谱-质谱仪（GC-Mass Spec），为野外生物学家探索嗅觉世界打开大门。作为五种感官之一，嗅觉在昆虫和其他动物与植物的互动中起着重要作用，包括植物是否被授粉或被吃掉。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至关重要。更广泛地说，由于与免疫系统有关的原因，嗅觉影响着动物如何识别亲属、选择配偶、记忆事件以及赋予它们情感价值。最近的突破允许使用气相色谱质谱检测极少量的化学物质排放到空气中。目前部署的设备主要局限于人工实验室环境。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，在自然的野外环境中研究化学物质在调节植物和动物之间关系中的作用。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方式，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，这些项目的少数民族参与率很高。该项目将在落基山生物实验室安装一台最先进的Shimadzu气相色谱-质谱仪（GC-MS） 2010 Ultra，具有热解吸和传统溶剂解吸注射端口。利用最近的技术改进，该设备将允许在生态环境中识别植物排放的挥发性化学物质。该项目将为美国一个主要研究现场站的用户提供第一个这样的仪器，并将在具有成本效益的基础上改善仪器的使用，从而加强科学基础设施。除了支持来自世界各地的许多科学家的研究之外，联合项目的黛安·坎贝尔（加州大学欧文分校）和罗伯特·拉古索（康奈尔大学）将把花的挥发物（例如吲哚和á-pinene）纳入与传粉者和种子捕食者的相互作用如何影响花性状组合的自然选择的研究中。艾米丽·穆尼（科罗拉多州立大学，科罗拉多斯泉分校）和凯伦·穆尼（加州大学欧文分校）将在过去和正在进行的草本寄主植物紫花Ligusticum porteri，蚜虫helianthi，它在当地的主要食草昆虫，以及攻击和保护蚜虫的捕食者和蚂蚁之间相互作用的研究基础上进行研究。诺亚·怀特曼（加州大学伯克利分校）在研究草食植物进化基因组结构方面的工作中，将从小豆粕中识别挥发物，以便设计实验，在行为试验中让黑头苍蝇接触到活性化合物。此外，RMBL还将提供化学分析方面的培训，包括为期一周的新手课程和针对有GC-MS经验但不熟悉特定型号机器的人员的课程。我们将整合设备，培养一支多样化的科学人才队伍。在我们的本科生研究经验项目中，超过38%的参与者是少数民族。我们期望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，从而增加未来的就业机会。更多关于落基山生物实验室的信息可以在rmbl.org上找到。

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.