NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Evolution of glucosinolate innovation among non-Arabidopsis Brassicaceae species

2020 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：非拟南芥十字花科物种芥子油苷创新的演变

• 批准号: 2010527
• 负责人: Joshua Trujillo
• 金额: $ 21.6万
• 依托单位: Trujillo, Joshua T
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2023-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2010527&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020. 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 Dr. Joshua Trujillo is "Evolution of glucosinolate innovation". The host institution for the fellowship is Purdue University and the sponsoring scientists are Dr. Jennifer Wisecaver and Dr. Mark Beilstein.Plants produce an immense collection of diverse, specialized molecules that help attract pollinators, protect plants from insects and diseases, and provide protection against other stress such as drought. Glucosinolates are one such group of plant specialized molecules, that are of great interest for agricultural, medicinal, and biotechnological purposes. Hundreds of glucosinolate chemical compounds have been identified, and these compounds exist in varying amounts in different species, suggesting that the genes responsible for making these glucosinolate compounds are also highly variable between species. Despite this known diversity, the vast majority, as of genes involved in glucosinolate biosynthesis have been characterized in one plant alone. This focus on a single species makes it impossible to understand what genes are responsible for making this diversity of glucosinolates and production of diverse specialized molecules in general. Comparing the genes responsible for glucosinolate biosynthesis across multiple species will greatly advance our understanding of how these specialized molecules are made, as well as the ability to manipulate, synthesize, and utilize these specialized molecules for human society. In addition, this fellowship will provide advanced postdoctoral training, mentoring of undergraduate students in academic research, and educational outreach to teach the general public about plant evolution and genomics.The objective of the research project is to investigate the evolution of innovation in glucosinolate biosynthesis between several closely related Brassicaceae species. To address the need for comparative genomic and functional data, the glucosinolate biosynthesis pathway will be characterized in seven non-Arabidopsis Brassicaceae species through integration of comparative genomics, metabolomics, and molecular analyses. The central hypothesis of the project is that the diversity of glucosinolate structures produced across Brassicaceae species is a consequence of neofunctionalization of either lineage- (or even species-) specific members of gene families (such as methylthioalkylmalate synthases, cytochrome P450s, and 2-oxoacid-dependent dioxygenases) or regulatory elements of conserved gene homologs of these families. To evaluate this hypothesis, the project will consist of three components; gene coexpression and metabolomics networks to characterize and compare glucosinolate biosynthesis pathways in diverse Brassicaceae species. Reconstruction of glucosinolate biosynthesis gene evolution to identify evolutionary processes that have led to innovation in glucosinolate biosynthesis. Lastly, functional characterization of select genes responsible for glucosinolate pathway innovation. Biological samples will be archived in the Wisecaver laboratory, and data/code gathered or produced during the extent of the project will be made publicly available through NCBI databases.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.

该行动资助了2020财年NSF国家植物基因组计划生物学博士后研究奖学金。该研究金支持研究员在东道实验室的研究和培训计划，研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。约书亚特鲁希略博士的研究和培训计划的标题是“芥子油苷创新的演变”。该奖学金的主办机构是普渡大学，赞助科学家是Jennifer Wisecaver博士和Mark贝尔斯坦博士。植物产生大量多样的专门分子，有助于吸引传粉者，保护植物免受昆虫和疾病的侵害，并提供保护免受干旱等其他压力。硫代葡萄糖苷是一类植物特化分子，在农业、医药和生物技术方面具有重要意义。已经鉴定了数百种硫代葡萄糖酸盐化合物，这些化合物在不同物种中以不同的量存在，这表明负责制造这些硫代葡萄糖酸盐化合物的基因在物种之间也高度可变。尽管这种已知的多样性，绝大多数的基因参与芥子油苷生物合成的特点是在一个植物单独。这种对单一物种的关注使得人们不可能理解是什么基因负责产生这种硫代葡萄糖苷的多样性和产生各种特殊分子。比较多个物种中负责硫代葡萄糖苷生物合成的基因将极大地促进我们对这些专门分子是如何产生的理解，以及操纵，合成和利用这些专门分子的能力。此外，该奖学金将提供高级博士后培训，指导本科生进行学术研究，并开展教育推广，向公众传授植物进化和基因组学知识。该研究项目的目标是调查几个密切相关的拟南芥科物种之间硫代葡萄糖苷生物合成创新的进化。为了解决比较基因组学和功能数据的需要，芥子油苷生物合成途径的特点是在7个非拟南芥属植物通过比较基因组学，代谢组学和分子分析的整合。该项目的中心假设是，在拟南芥科物种中产生的芥子油苷结构的多样性是基因家族（如甲硫烷基苹果酸脱氢酶，细胞色素P450和2-含氧酸依赖性双加氧酶）或这些家族保守基因同源物的调控元件的谱系（甚至物种）特异性成员的新功能化的结果。为了评估这一假设，该项目将包括三个组成部分：基因共表达和代谢组学网络，以表征和比较不同的拟南芥科物种中的硫代葡萄糖苷生物合成途径。硫代葡萄糖苷生物合成基因进化的重建，以确定导致硫代葡萄糖苷生物合成创新的进化过程。最后，选择基因的功能表征负责硫代葡萄糖苷途径的创新。生物样本将在Wisecaver实验室存档，在项目范围内收集或产生的数据/代码将通过NCBI数据库公开提供。该奖项反映了NSF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。

项目成果

CHD Chromatin Remodeling Protein Diversification Yields Novel Clades and Domains Absent in Classic Model Organisms.

• DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac066
• 发表时间: 2022-05-03
• 期刊: GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: Trujillo, Joshua T.;Long, Jiaxin;Aboelnour, Erin;Ogas, Joseph;Wisecaver, Jennifer H.
• 通讯作者: Wisecaver, Jennifer H.