CAREER: Elucidating the Interaction Dynamics of Soil Metals with Flavonoids in the Plant Rhizosphere

植物必须从土壤中获得微量的金属微量营养素才能生长和生存。必须对这些金属的水平进行监管，以防止有害的毒性或缺乏症。该项目的目标是解决植物如何在化学上塑造其根部周围的土壤区域，即根际，以调节和适当利用这些金属微量营养素。这项研究专门研究了土壤铜与次生代谢物的相互作用如何影响铜的有效性，以及铜如何调节这些代谢物的生化功能。项目目标的核心是开发化学战略和工具，以阐明复杂环境中的金属生物化学。与基于实验室的调查相结合，这些研究将通过开发以计算机为基础的本科生研究课程平台来加强，旨在加强社区大学STEM转移途径。参与的学生将有机会为跨学科研究做出有意义的贡献，同时建立和建立科学认同感。这些联合研究将提供对植物适应性的金属相关驱动因素的分子洞察，为利用根际过程应对全球性挑战提供新的机会，例如不断增长的人口对食物的需求和对受污染环境的解毒。该项目的核心是破译植物根际中的金属动力学及其对植物-生物相互作用和植物健康的贡献。虽然存在于土壤物质中，但金属微量营养素主要以不可用的形式存在，植物必须动员起来才能获得和利用。该项目旨在通过三个目标来确定土壤环境中铜和黄酮类化合物(根分泌的次生代谢物)之间的分子水平相互作用如何影响植物的生存和生长。(1)第一个目标是确定金属与黄酮类化合物的结合如何影响植物-微生物信号转导中的类黄酮功能。试剂阵列和化学计量学分析将结合使用，以分析黄酮类化合物的铜反应活性。将这一策略应用于植物-微生物模型，将为金属对根际类黄酮感知和专一性的影响提供新的见解。(2)第二个目标将通过开发和应用区分可移动和不可移动形式的铜的成像系统来探索类黄酮如何影响金属的生物有效性。(3)将建立一个基于计算机课程的本科生研究经验(CURE)平台，作为改善加州社区学院学生STEM转移途径的载体。CURE项目将利用开源数据来确定将金属代谢和根际信号联系起来的途径。综上所述，这些研究将检验一个假设，即给定的黄酮类化合物与金属的相互作用能力可以定义其在植物-土壤反馈过程中的功能。这一奖项反映了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。

Plants must acquire metal micronutrients in trace amounts from the soil for their growth and survival. The levels of these metals must be regulated to prevent unwanted toxicity or deficiency. The goal of this project is to untangle how plants chemically shape the region of soil surrounding their roots, known as the rhizosphere, to regulate and properly utilize these metal micronutrients. This research specifically investigates both how interactions of soil copper with secondary metabolites impact copper availability as well as how copper may regulate the biochemical function of these metabolites. Central to the project objectives is the development of chemical strategies and tools that illuminate metal biochemistry in complex environments. In tandem with laboratory-based investigations, these studies will be enhanced by the development of a computer-based undergraduate research course platform aimed at enhancing community college STEM transfer pathways. Participating students will have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to interdisciplinary research while establishing and building science identity. These combined studies will offer molecular insight into the metal-associated drivers for plant fitness, providing new opportunities to harness rhizosphere processes in meeting global challenges such as the increasing food demands of a growing population and detoxifying contaminated environments.This project centers on deciphering metal dynamics in the plant rhizosphere and its contribution to plant-biotic interactions and plant health. While present in soil matter, metal micronutrients primarily exist in non-available forms that the plant must mobilize to acquire and utilize. This project seeks to determine how molecular-level interactions between copper and flavonoids (secondary metabolites secreted by the roots) in the soil environment impact plant survival and growth via three objectives. (1) The first objective is to determine how metal binding to flavonoids impacts flavonoid function in plant-microbe signaling. A combination of reagent arrays and chemometric analysis will be used to profile flavonoids in terms of their copper reactivity. Application of this strategy to plant-microbe models will provide new insight on the influence of metals on flavonoid perception and specificity in the rhizosphere. (2) The second objective will probe how flavonoids impact metal bioavailability by developing and applying imaging systems that differentiate mobile and immobile forms of copper. (3) A computer-based course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) platform will be established as a vehicle for improving the STEM transfer pathway for California community college students. CURE projects will utilize open-source data to identify pathways that link metal metabolism and rhizosphere signaling. Taken together, these studies will test the hypothesis that the metal-interacting capacity of a given flavonoid may define its function within plant-soil feedback processes.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.