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

该学院早期职业发展奖将结合生物力学、结构工程和遗传学领域的现代工具，提供对影响粮食作物秸秆强度的因素的新理解。这项工作的长期目标是有意优化(即设计)粮食作物的结构。这些新品种将具有极高产量和生物燃料生产的潜力。玉米(玉米)是美国最大的农作物，将是这项研究的主要主题。将使用结构工程的工具和技术。这些措施包括结构测试，使用新的设备在田间测量秸秆强度，以及重点测量玉米秸秆组织的几何形状和机械性能。基因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种群。将对这个群体进行分析，以确定特定基因对玉米秸秆强度和其他关键性状的影响。最后，将结构和遗传信息结合起来，创建功能强大的玉米秸秆强度新计算模型。这些新模型将允许进行优化研究。这一结果将为获得高产的粮食作物提供建议，同时也适合第二代生物燃料的生产。为了进行这项工作，学生将在接受科学培训的同时，接受培训和广泛的指导和专业发展。本研究的具体目标是：(1)通过选育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)使用计算模型来研究最佳秸秆原型。标本多样性将通过测交和杂交育种实验来创造。生物力学测量(弯曲测试、机械组织测试和形态测量)将在这些标本以及先前产生的转基因品种上进行。这些信息将被用来量化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，以便进行灵敏度和优化分析。这项研究有望为结构因素和候选基因对作物结构弹性的影响提供有价值的新见解，从而使寻求遵循本研究提供的优化结果的新的育种方法成为可能。这项工作由综合组织系统司生物科学局的植物、真菌和微生物发展机制计划共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

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.