TRTech-PGR: A mass spectrometric-based interdisciplinary approach to deciphering the molecular dialogue between between crop plants and their microbial friends and foes.

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In soil, the roots of crop plants interact with bacteria and fungi that play interconnected, fundamental roles in agriculture in a process known as ‘symbiosis’ whereby the plants and microbes feed each other with essential nutrients. This interdependent relationship of soil microbes and crop roots provides important elements such as nitrogen and phosphorous to the plant. Without these microbes, farmers must use fertilizers to satisfy the plant’s need for nutrients. Fertilizer use is both financially expensive and environmentally deleterious because the runoff from agricultural fields causes overfertilization of the nation’s waterways. This, in turn, results in disastrous overgrowth of unwanted organisms and large die-offs of desirable organisms like fish and other creatures living in rivers, lakes and oceans. In this project, the essential chemical signals that soil microbes use to tell a plant that they are friends, not foes, so they can live in harmony rather than at war, will be analyzed at a molecular level. In addition, during this project, the proteins in the plant that specifically recognize these signals will be characterized at the molecular level. In general, these signals represent a chemical ‘internet’ in the soil that allows plants and microbes to satisfy their critical roles in modern agriculture. This project will provide a potential strategy for increasing crop productivity needed to nourish a growing population, while decreasing the deleterious financial and environmental costs. In addition, the team will continue to provide an annual course at the University of Wisconsin on advanced methods in the use of mass spectrometry and proteomics.Mass spectrometers play a fundamental role in modern research, as well as in the health and forensics industry. For example, there is a mass spectrometer on Mars looking for signs of life, there is one at the airport that looks for terrorism-related chemicals in our bags and body, and there are mass spectrometers in our hospitals that analyze the presence and metabolism of drugs in our blood and bodily secretions. Despite their importance, most lay citizens and modern research scientists have a poor understanding of what these instruments can do and why. This renewal project is devoted to developing and applying state-of-the-art mass spectrometric technologies to profile early molecular events involved in the recognition of symbiotic microbes with their host crop plants. This project will also assist the general plant community with understanding and using mass spectrometric based analyses of metabolomes and proteomes involved in the plant's ability to recognize and respond to microbes. Finally, via continuation of the annual summer Mass Spectrometry Workshop previously established with prior PGRP NSF funding at UW-Madison, this renewal project will be able to ensure that the mass spectrometric-based technologies being developed will be made available and placed in the hands of the research community's biologists in plant and microbial laboratories throughout the USA.This award was co-funded by the Plant Genome Research Program and the Plant Biotic Interactions Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.