RESEARCH-PGRP - Adapting to a Harsh Environment: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Drought Stress and Plasticity of Plant Architecture for a Beneficial Outcome

为了满足不断增长的人口对粮食和营养的需求，尽管可耕地减少，氮和磷等关键植物养分有限，土壤盐分增加，干旱频率预计会增加，但粮食生产必须增加。满足未来的粮食需求是当今世界面临的最大挑战之一，可以通过作物改良和土壤管理来解决。对于植物如何整合与土壤微生物和环境限制（即缺水）的有益相互作用来调节其生长，人们知之甚少。该项目正在开发研究植物与微生物相互作用的新技术，重点研究水稻和番茄在不同灌溉条件下如何与有益真菌相互作用。研究结果将使改善植物与微生物的相互作用成为可能，从而使植物能够在压力条件下更好地维持重要功能。这些技术将广泛适用于植物与环境相互作用的其他方面以及其他多细胞生物。此外，该项目还向当地学校的学生介绍植物遗传学主题，强调有益生物的重要性。该项目旨在确定在植物根系发育和芽部分生组织活动中，特别是在缺水条件下，与丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）共生所介导的有益可塑性的关键基因调控、信号传导和响应网络。该项目评估了低水分条件下AMF对根系结构和分生组织发育的影响。具体目标是：(1)开发可诱导的i- integrity和i-TRAP，以捕获响应不同AMF激发子或发育丛管的细胞亚群中的表观基因组和翻译组动力学；(2)在温室内开展从器官到细胞水平的AMF与水分亏缺相互作用的高分辨率调查；(3)开展教育和更广泛的影响活动。这包括(i)及时传播遗传物质、基因组数据、协议、软件和讲习班材料；（ii）每年在课程、研讨会和本科教学实验室进行方法指导；（三）对大学生和高中生进行植物基因组学研究的实践培训。辅导是为每个机构的社区量身定制的，针对的是代表性不足的群体。该项目还编写教材，通过微观层面的植物部分教学来加强三年级“下一代科学标准”课程，使青少年能够欣赏植物和植物研究对人类的重要性。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。

To meet the food and nutritional demands of an ever-growing population, food production must increase despite declines in arable land and limitations in key plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous (Pi), increased soil salinity, and predicted increases in the frequency of droughts. Meeting future food needs is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, and can be addressed through crop improvement and soil management. Little is known of how plants integrate beneficial interactions with soil microbes and environmental limitations (i.e., insufficient water) to modulate their growth. This project is developing new technologies for studying the interaction between plants and microbes, focusing on how rice and tomato interact with beneficial fungi under varied irrigation conditions. The results will make it possible to improve plant-microbe interactions so that plants can better sustain vital functions under stressful conditions. The technologies will be broadly applicable to other aspects of plant-environmental interactions and to other multicellular organisms. In addition, the project is introducing students in local schools to topics in plant genetics that highlight the importance of beneficial organisms. This project seeks to identify key gene regulatory, signaling, and response networks that underlie beneficial plasticity in plant root development and shoot meristem activity mediated by the symbiosis with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF), particularly under water deficit conditions. The project assesses how AMF influences root architecture and meristematic development under low water availability. The specific aims are to (1) Develop inducible i-INTACT and i-TRAP to capture epigenome to translatome dynamics in the subset of cells responding to distinct AMF elicitors or developing arbuscules; (2) Initiate a high-resolution survey of AMF and water deficit interactions from the organ to the cellular level in the greenhouse; and (3) Pursue education and broader impact activities. This includes (i) prompt dissemination of genetic material, genomic data, protocols, software, and workshop materials; (ii) annual instruction of methods in courses, workshops and undergraduate teaching labs; and (iii) hands-on training of undergraduate and high school students in plant genomics research. Mentoring is tailored to each institution's community, targeting underrepresented groups. The project also develops teaching materials to enhance the 3rd grade Next Generation Science Standard curricula through instruction on plant parts at the microscopic level, empowering youths with an appreciation of plants and the importance of plant research to humankind.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.