ERA-CAPS: Collaborative Research: Thylakoid ion flux-Linking photosynthetic efficiency with osmotic stress response

植物的生产力取决于许多环境因素，无论植物是野生生长还是在农民的田地里精心培育。有效的光合作用是植物生产力的关键，但土壤盐度破坏了光合作用发生的叶细胞中的电解质，即所谓的离子平衡。土壤盐碱化是一个日益严重的全球性问题，如果不加以有效控制，将影响全球粮食供应。破译植物如何对盐度做出反应并调节其细胞离子通量对于理解和潜在地改善光合作用至关重要。该项目利用专门的成像系统和分析工具识别控制植物离子通量和对盐度反应的特定基因，研究它们在植物生产力中的作用。这个国际研究小组将利用他们的发现开发一个计算模型，为育种计划提供信息和改进，并开发出能够耐受土壤盐度的更高产的植物。该模型将在番茄上进行试验，有可能对确保全球粮食安全产生广泛影响。通过类囊体膜的离子通量是改善植物光合作用的一个有希望的目标，但对关键成分的了解还远未完成。该项目汇集了一个国际联盟，在叶绿体离子通量、光谱学、表型、离子学、生物化学、生物能量学和计算建模方面具有互补的专业知识。通过动态生长光照的多日表型研究，研究小组分离出了新的候选类囊体离子通量突变体。研究人员将通过以下目的研究受损基因及其与已知类囊体离子通量介质的联系：(i)完成类囊体离子转运蛋白清单；（ii）确定类囊体离子通量相互作用在光合作用和高渗胁迫抗性中的作用；（iii）确定类囊体离子通量影响高渗应激反应的过程；（iv）分析类囊体离子通量对作物关键农艺性状的影响；(v)建立一个模型，模拟类囊体离子通量对光合效率和盐胁迫抗性的影响。Flux4LIVES项目有几个更广泛的影响。光合作用可以说是地球上最重要的反应，也是生命的基础。有明确的证据表明，最近该领域的生长条件变得更加不利，因此需要详细了解非生物胁迫如何影响这一反应途径。了解保护光合作用和植物生产力的分子机制将是改善这些途径的关键，从而确保全球粮食生产的必要水平。由于获得的数据将通过现有的PhotosynQ数据库开放获取，全球科学界可以将这些知识应用于他们自己的生物和生态问题，从而进一步努力满足不同气候和条件下的粮食需求。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Plant productivity is dependent on many environmental factors, whether plants grow wild or are carefully cultivated in a farmer's field. Efficient photosynthesis is the key to plant productivity, but soil salinity disrupts electrolytes, the so-called ion balance, in the leaf cells where photosynthesis occurs. Soil salinity is a growing problem globally and will affect worldwide food supplies if not effectively controlled. Deciphering how a plant responds to salinity and regulates its cellular ion fluxes is essential to understanding and potentially improving photosynthesis. This project identifies specific genes that control ion fluxes and responses to salinity in plants using a specialized imaging system and analysis tools to study their role in plant productivity. The international team will use their findings to develop a computational model to inform and improve breeding programs and to develop more highly productive plants that can tolerate soil salinity. The model will be tested in tomato with potential to have broad impact to assure global food security.Ion flux across the thylakoid membrane represents a promising target for improving plant photosynthesis, yet knowledge of key components is far from complete. This project brings together an international consortium with complementary expertise in chloroplast ion flux, spectroscopy, phenotyping, ionomics, biochemistry, bioenergetics, and computational modelling. By pursing multi-day phenotyping with dynamic growth lighting, the team has isolated new candidate thylakoid ion flux mutants. The researchers will study the compromised genes and their link to known thylakoid ion flux mediators by pursuing the following aims: (i) complete the thylakoid ion transport protein inventory; (ii) determine the role of thylakoid ion flux interactions in photosynthesis and hyperosmotic stress resistance; (iii) identify the process by which thylakoid ion flux impacts the hyperosmotic stress response; (iv) analyze thylakoid ion flux impacts on key agronomical traits in crop plants; and (v) generate a model for simulating increases to photosynthetic efficiency and salt stress resistance as a function of thylakoid ion flux. The Flux4LIVES project has several broader impacts. Photosynthesis is arguably the most important reaction on earth and a foundation for life. With clear evidence that growth conditions in the field have become more adverse recently, a detailed understanding on how abiotic stress impacts this reaction pathway is needed. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that protect photosynthesis and plant productivity will be key to improving these pathways and thus securing necessary levels of global food production. Since the data obtainedwill be open-access via the existing PhotosynQ database, the global scientific community can apply the knowledge to their own biological and ecological questions and thus further the effort to meet food demands across varying climates and conditions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.