RUI: Hydropowered Plants: How Primitive Land Plants Reproduce by Harnessing Mechanical Energy from Water

地钱被认为是最早的陆地植物，而多形地钱长期以来一直是其原始祖先的现代代表。近年来，这种植物已经成为植物生物学中一个重要的新模式系统，既是遗传操作的候选者，也是进化和分子生物学中其他问题的候选者。然而，尽管进行了所有这些研究，研究这些植物如何利用水中的机械能，特别是毛细管相互作用能，开辟了生物物理研究的新领域。该项目的主要目标将是调查陆地植物和水之间的这些机械相互作用的基本物理基础，特别强调植物系统的基本、最低限度的物理特征，使其能够发挥功能并促进生殖健康。除了多态马钱草的具体例子外，这些实验还旨在加深我们对植物如何进化以利用不同机械能源的基本理解。它还为研究吸附在液体界面上的植物颗粒的行为打开了新的大门。该项目还将对威廉姆斯学院下一代青年科学家的教育和培训产生重大影响。在研究实验室工作的学生每天都有机会在课程工作的基础上发展，并获得处理材料、显微镜、数据采集、图像分析等方面的实践经验。在过去的两年里，PI指导了18名本科生进行全日制或兼职研究，其中包括几名URM学生。这个项目位于一所本科院校，将研究植物系统如何利用水中的机械能来促进它们的繁殖过程。PI将集中研究原始陆地植物地钱的繁殖机制，地钱是一种常见的苔类植物。这项工作将特别侧重于这些植物如何通过毛细管相互作用利用表面能实现运动和直接自组装，以及表面张力和飞溅机制的相互作用，以促进生殖材料的分配。物理对多形地钱的繁殖适合性至关重要，研究物理机制将使用系统的实验、理论建模和全植物研究。这一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智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Liverworts are believed to have been the very first land plants, and Marchantia polymorpha has for a long time been a modern representative of its primitive ancestry. Recently, this plant has emerged as an important new model system in plant biology, both as a candidate for genetic manipulation and other questions in evolutionary and molecular biology. Yet despite all of this study, investigating how these plants harness mechanical energy from water, and capillary interaction energy in particular, opens a new area of biophysical research. The principle goal of this project will be the investigation of the fundamental physics underlying these mechanical interactions between land plants and water, with particular emphasis on the essential, minimal physical features of the botanical systems that enable function and promote both reproductive fitness. Beyond the specific example of Marchantia polymorpha, the experiments are also designed to further our fundamental understanding of how plants can evolve to harness different mechanical energy sources. It also opens the door to new studies of the behavior of botanical particles adsorbed to liquid interfaces. The project will also have a significant impact on the education and training of the next generation of young scientists at Williams College. Students working in the research lab will have daily opportunities to build upon coursework and gain practical experience working with materials, microscopes, data acquisition, image analysis, and more. Over the past two years, the PI has supervised 18 undergraduate students for full- or part-time research, including several URM students.This project, located at an undergraduate institution, will study how botanical systems harness mechanical energy from water to facilitate their reproductive processes. The PI will center the study on the reproduction mechanisms of the primitive land plant Marchantia polymorpha, a common liverwort. The work will particularly focus on how these plants effect motion and direct self-assembly using surface energy through capillary interactions, as well as the interaction of surface tension and splashing mechanics to facilitate distribution of reproductive material. The physics is critical to the reproductive fitness of Marchantia polymorpha, and to study the physical mechanisms will use systematic experiments, theoretical modeling, and whole-plant studies.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.