PlantSynBio: Optimized CAM Engineering for Improving Water-use Efficiency in Plants

PlantSynBio：优化 CAM 工程，提高植物用水效率

• 批准号: 2042253
• 负责人: John Cushman
• 金额: $ 155.79万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-04-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2042253&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PlantSynBio; Optimized; CAM; Engineering; Improving

Crassulacean acid metabolism and tissue succulence are metabolic and anatomical adaptations that improve water-use efficiency and drought (and salinity) stress tolerance in plants. These traits are among the most widespread and successful adaptations in the plant kingdom for mitigating drought stress, and thus, represent highly useful traits for the design of climate-resilient crops. The goal of this project is to test optimized synthetic versions of crassulacean acid metabolism alone and in combination with engineered tissue succulence. The proposed synthetic gene circuits developed by this project can be applied widely to other food, feed, fiber, and biofuel crops to improve their productivity, improve water-use efficiency, and drought/salinity stress tolerance under the hotter and drier environments of the future. The project will also provide training of an increasingly diverse scientific workforce through student recruitment efforts that target students from historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In addition, the project will provide training and preparedness of future scientists in evidence-based, visually focused, scientific communication through unique training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars in plant biochemistry, synthetic biology, and biotechnology blended with infographics, interactive visualizations, and visual social media. The investigators will increase public awareness of the need for more climate-resilient crops through the production of two high-quality videos describing the project deliverables to showcase the societal benefit of these biotechnological innovations. Lastly, the training and outreach activities will be evaluated through robust assessment activities to appraise their impact on public science outreach.Future increases in drought severity and duration will significantly slow the rate of crop productivity increases needed to satisfy future projected crop demands and threaten global food security. Therefore, innovative synthetic biology approaches for curtailing photorespiration and improving water-use efficiency via the introduction of synthetic crassulacean acid metabolism into C3 photosynthesis crops are essential. The proposed research will generate optimized synthetic carboxylation, decarboxylation, starch degradation, and complete crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits. The resulting plants will be evaluated for improved growth, productivity, water-use efficiency, and water-deficit and salinity tolerance. In addition, plants expressing optimized crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits will be evaluated with and without engineered tissue succulence in Arabidopsis and soybean, a critically important C3 photosynthesis crop for the U.S.. Empirical testing will be accompanied by detailed, genome-scale transcriptomic and metabolome profiling and diel flux balance analysis modeling to corroborate energetic efficiency predictions for each iteration of the synthetic crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits. The broader impacts of the project include improving national food, feed, fiber, and biofuel security by enhancing crop productivity, water-use efficiency, and drought/salinity tolerance in a changing environment. Outreach and training goals include ensuring the training of an increasingly diverse scientific workforce through recruitment of underrepresented students, providing training and preparedness of future scientists in scientific communication, increasing public awareness of the need to improve the climate-resiliency of crops using videos describing the concepts of synthetic CAM and engineered tissue succulence, and assessing training, outreach and engagement activities for didactic and societal impacts.This award was co-funded by the Plant Genome Research Program and the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics 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.

天竺葵酸代谢和组织多肉化是一种代谢和解剖学上的适应，可以提高植物的水分利用效率和抗旱（和盐）胁迫能力。这些性状是植物王国中最广泛和最成功的缓解干旱胁迫的适应性性状，因此，它们代表了设计气候适应型作物的非常有用的性状。这个项目的目标是测试优化的合成版本的天冬肽酸代谢单独和结合工程组织多肉。该项目开发的合成基因电路可以广泛应用于其他粮食、饲料、纤维和生物燃料作物，以提高其生产力，提高水分利用效率，并在未来更炎热和更干燥的环境下耐干旱/盐胁迫。该项目还将通过招生工作，针对科学、技术、工程和数学领域历来代表性不足的群体的学生，为日益多样化的科学劳动力提供培训。此外，该项目将通过独特的培训机会，为植物生物化学、合成生物学和生物技术领域的本科生、研究生和博士后学者提供以证据为基础、以视觉为重点的科学传播方面的培训和准备，并将信息图表、交互式可视化和视觉社交媒体相结合。研究人员将通过制作两个高质量的视频来描述项目成果，以展示这些生物技术创新的社会效益，从而提高公众对需要更多适应气候变化的作物的认识。最后，将通过强有力的评估活动对培训和推广活动进行评估，以评估其对公共科学推广的影响。未来干旱的严重程度和持续时间的增加将大大减缓满足未来预计作物需求所需的作物生产力提高速度，并威胁到全球粮食安全。因此，通过在C3光合作用作物中引入合成天冬氨酸代谢来减少光呼吸和提高水利用效率的创新合成生物学方法是必不可少的。该研究将生成优化的合成羧基化、脱羧化、淀粉降解和完整的天冬氨酸代谢基因回路。将对获得的植株进行生长、生产力、水分利用效率、缺水和耐盐性的评价。此外，在拟南芥和大豆（美国重要的C3光合作用作物）中，表达优化的天冬氨酸代谢基因回路的植物将在有和没有工程化组织多汁的情况下进行评估。实证测试将伴随着详细的基因组级转录组和代谢组分析以及每日通量平衡分析建模，以证实合成的天冬酰胺酸代谢基因回路的每次迭代的能量效率预测。该项目的更广泛影响包括通过提高作物生产力、水利用效率和在不断变化的环境中耐旱/耐盐能力，改善国家粮食、饲料、纤维和生物燃料安全。推广和培训目标包括：通过招募代表性不足的学生，确保培养一支日益多样化的科学队伍；在科学传播方面为未来的科学家提供培训和准备；利用描述合成CAM和工程组织多肉质概念的视频，提高公众对提高作物气候适应能力必要性的认识；为教学和社会影响开展外联和参与活动。该奖项由植物基因组研究计划和综合有机体系统部门的生理机制和生物力学计划共同资助。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。