CAREER: Combining Engineering, Biomechanics, and Genetic Analysis to Enable the Design of Structurally Superior Grain Crops

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）奖将结合联合收割机从生物力学，结构工程和遗传学领域的现代工具，以提供有助于粮食作物秸秆强度的因素的新的理解。这项工作的长期目标是有意优化（即，设计）谷物的结构。这些新品种将具有极高的产量和生物燃料生产的潜力。玉米是美国最大的农作物，也是本研究的主要对象。将使用结构工程的工具和技术。 这些包括结构测试，使用新的设备测量秸秆强度在外地，并集中测量的几何形状和机械性能的玉米秸秆组织。遗传技术将包括利用育种实验产生具有广泛结构和遗传多样性的玉米秸秆群体。将对该群体进行分析，以确定特定基因对玉米茎秆强度和其他关键特性的影响。最后，结构和遗传信息将结合起来，创造强大的新的计算模型的玉米秸秆强度。这些新模型将允许优化研究。 研究结果将为获得高产粮食作物的方法提供建议，同时也适用于第二代生物燃料的生产。 为了开展这项工作，学生将接受培训和广泛的指导和专业发展，以及他们的科学培训。本研究的具体目标是：（1）通过选择性育种和转基因实验产生遗传和结构多样性;（2）对物理标本进行生物力学测量;（3）使用计算建模来研究最佳茎原型。将使用测交和杂交育种实验创建标本多样性。将对这些标本以及先前生成的转基因品种进行生物力学测量（弯曲试验、机械组织试验和形态学测量）。这些信息将用于量化在先前研究中确定的特定候选基因的影响。最后，将创建一个参数化计算建模平台，以进行灵敏度和优化分析。这项研究有望为结构因子和候选基因对作物结构恢复力的影响提供有价值的新见解，从而使新的育种方法能够遵循这项研究提供的优化结果。 这项工作是共同资助的植物，真菌和微生物发育机制计划在生物科学理事会，综合有机体系统司。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award will combine modern tools from the fields of biomechanics, structural engineering, and genetics to provide new understanding of the factors that contribute to stalk strength of grain crops. The long-term goal of this work is to intentionally optimize (i.e., design) the architecture of grain crops. These new varieties will have the potential for exceptionally high yield and biofuel production. Maize (corn) is the largest crop in the US and will be the primary subject of this research. Tools and techniques from structural engineering will be used. These include structural tests, the use of new devices for measuring stalk strength in the field, and focused measurements of the geometry and mechanical properties of maize stalk tissues. Genetic techniques will include the use of breeding experiments to generate a population of maize stalks having a broad range of structural and genetic diversity. This population will be analyzed to determine the influence of specific genes on maize stalk strength and other key characteristics. Finally, structural and genetic information will be combined to create powerful new computational models of maize stalk strength. These new models will allow optimization studies. The results will suggest ways for achieving grain crops that are high-yielding while also being suitable for second-generation biofuel production. To carry out this work, students will receive training and extensive mentoring and professional development alongside their scientific training.The specific aims of this research are: (1) generate genetic and structural diversity through selective breeding and transgenic experiments; (2) perform biomechanical measurements of physical specimens; and (3) use computational modeling to investigate optimal stalk archetypes. Specimen diversity will be created using test-cross and inter-cross breeding experiments. Biomechanical measurements (bending tests, mechanical tissue tests, and morphological measurements) will be performed on these specimens as well as on transgenic varieties previously generated. This information will be used to quantify the influence of specific candidate genes identified in previous studies. Finally, a parameterized computational modeling platform will be created to allow sensitivity and optimization analyses. This research is expected to provide valuable new insights on the influences of structural factors and candidate genes on the structural resilience of crops, thus enabling new breeding approaches that seek to follow the optimization results provided by this study. This work is co-funded by the Plant, Fungal and Microbial Developmental Mechanisms program in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, 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.