BRC-BIO: Deciphering the roles of RNA modifications in regulating responses to abiotic stresses in cereal crops

据预测，全球气候变化将增加不利天气事件的发生率，包括一段时间的干旱和热应激。世界不同地区已经在经历气候变化的负面影响。这种非生物胁迫事件正在并将继续对全球作物生产产生不利影响。因此，发展和实施气候智能农业是当务之急，而发展气候适应性作物是气候智能农业倡议中最重要的组成部分。这需要对控制植物反应的分子机制有广泛的了解。在各种作物中，谷类作物至关重要，因为它们是食物和动物饲料的主要来源。在目前的项目中，高粱将被用作一个模式系统，以确定调控对非生物胁迫的反应的新机制，并揭示这些机制之间的相互作用。高粱是禾本科的成员，是一种非生物胁迫恢复和生物能源作物。此外，还将确定提高谷类作物抗旱性和/或耐热性的新目标。除此之外，目前的项目还将在生物技术和基因组学领域为代表不足的学生提供直接实践培训，这些学生来自一所主要为少数族裔服务的机构。该项目还将在尖端基因组学和生物技术方面培训研究生和博士后研究学者。近年来，在破译谷类作物对非生物胁迫反应的转录调控方面取得了重大进展。然而，对基因表达的其他调节模式的研究，如对非生物胁迫的各种RNA修饰，仍处于初级阶段。测序技术和基因组学的最新进展使不同的信使核糖核酸修饰模式能够直接进行比较。目前的项目将破译响应非生物胁迫的不同信使核糖核酸修饰模式之间的相互作用，并揭示它们对信使核糖核酸功能的影响，包括由小RNA和信使核糖核酸稳定性介导的影响。将确定应对干旱和高温胁迫的共性和独特性，这将为发展适应未来气候变化的谷类作物奠定基础。高粱是一种主要的粮食作物，广泛用作食品、动物饲料和生物能源作物，将作为模式系统使用。高粱是一种耐逆性极强的物种，因此本项目的研究结果可用于向玉米、水稻和小麦等其他对逆境敏感的物种传递抗逆性。目前的项目还将帮助一个主要为少数族裔服务的机构的一名早期职业首席研究员的能力建设。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。

Global climate change is predicted to increase the incidence of adverse weather events, including spells of drought and heat stress. Different parts of the world are already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. Events of such abiotic stresses are and will continue to adversely affect global crop production. Thus, developing and implementing climate-smart agriculture is the need of the hour, and developing climate-resilient crop plants is by far the most important component of climate-smart agriculture initiatives. This requires extensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern responses in plants. Among various crop species, cereal crops are of paramount importance, as they are the primary source of food and animal feed. In the current project, sorghum, a member of the grass family that is an abiotic stress-resilient cereal and bioenergy crop, will be used as a model system to identify novel mechanisms of the regulation of responses to abiotic stresses and to unravel interactions among such mechanisms. Additionally, new targets for improving drought and/or heat tolerance in cereal crops will be identified. Along with that, the current project will provide direct hands-on training to underrepresented students from a predominantly minority-serving institution in the areas of biotechnology and genomics. The project will also train graduate students and postdoctoral research scholars in cutting-edge genomics and biotechnology.In recent years significant progress has been made in deciphering transcriptional regulation of responses to abiotic stresses in cereal crops. However, research on other modes of regulation of gene expression, such as various RNA modifications in responses to abiotic stresses, remains in its infancy. Recent advancements in sequencing technologies and genomics allow direct comparison among different modes of mRNA modifications. The current project will decipher the interplay among different modes of mRNA modifications in response to abiotic stresses and unravel their effects on mRNA functionality, including those that are mediated by small RNAs and mRNA stability. Commonalities and uniqueness among responses to drought and heat stress will be identified and this will lay the foundation for developing cereal crops adapted to future climatic changes. Sorghum bicolor, a major cereal crop, which is extensively used as a food, animal feed, and bioenergy crop, will be used as the model system. Sorghum is an extremely stress-tolerant species, hence results obtained from this project can be used to impart stress tolerance in other stress-susceptible species, including maize, rice, and wheat. The current project will also help in the capacity building of an early career principal investigator from a primarily minority-serving institute.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.