Rapid cell-to-cell and plant-to-plant responses to abiotic stress

植物在维持地球上的生命方面发挥着重要作用，将太阳能转化为糖。为了实现最佳生产力，植物的不同部分以及整个植物必须迅速适应环境条件的波动变化(例如，光照强度、温度、湿度的变化，病原体的存在等)。由于在自然界或田间条件下，并不是植物的所有部分都同时受到相同的环境条件的影响，植物进化出了将细胞间信号从一个部分快速传递到另一个部分的能力，从而优化了它们的整体光合作用活性、生长和生产力。这种能力被称为“系统信号”。最近发展了一种新的实时成像方法，用于检测同一植物不同部分之间(即细胞对细胞)和/或生活在同一群落中的不同植物之间(即植物对植物)的快速系统信号。这一新方法将被用来研究不同植物内部和不同植物之间快速系统信号的不同关键调控因子，并表征整合它们的分子机制。这项研究的发现将使未来的农作物能够提高对全球变暖的适应能力，防止每年给美国经济造成数十亿美元的产量损失。此外，这项研究将通过YouTube视频、当地公共广播电台的广播节目、密苏里大学农场的推广活动以及本科生和高中生的指导研究经验向公众传播。压力诱导的系统信号和系统获得性驯化在植物对非生物胁迫的适应性中发挥关键作用。最近发展了一种新的成像方法，能够快速测量生长在土壤中的活植物的全植物系统信号(活性氧、氧化还原、钙和电)。这种方法在以前的研究中被用来识别植物中快速系统细胞间信号转导的几个重要调节因子，以及发现地上植物之间的系统信号转导。然而，目前尚不清楚系统细胞到细胞和植物到植物信号的整合方式和层次。利用新开发的成像方法，将确定由局部施加过量光胁迫或创伤触发的不同快速系统细胞到细胞和植物到植物信号的层次、整合模式和组织特异性。此外，还将识别和研究在响应过度光胁迫或伤害的植物信号转导过程中传递的信息类型，以及质膜上整合系统钙、活性氧和氧化还原信号的蛋白质复合体。这项研究的结果可能导致开发新的方法来提高作物对与全球变暖相关的不同逆境的适应能力，以及识别质膜上连接活性氧物种、氧化还原和钙信号的关键多蛋白复合体。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 play a fundamental role in sustaining life on Earth, converting solar energy into sugars. To achieve optimal productivity, the different parts of the plant, and the plant as a whole, must rapidly acclimate to fluctuating changes in environmental conditions (e.g., changes in light intensity, temperature, humidity, the presence of pathogens, etc.). Because in nature, or under field conditions, not all parts of the plant are simultaneously subjected to the same environmental conditions, plants evolved the ability to rapidly transmit cell-to-cell signals from one part to another, optimizing their overall photosynthetic activity, growth, and productivity. This ability is termed ‘systemic signaling’. A novel live imaging method to detect rapid systemic signals within and between different parts of the same plant (i.e., cell-to-cell) and/or between different plants living in a community (i.e., plant-to-plant) was recently developed. This new method will be used to study different key regulators of rapid systemic signaling within and between different plants and characterize the molecular mechanisms that integrate them. Findings from this research will enable the development of future crop plants with enhanced resilience to global warming, preventing yield losses that are estimated at billions of dollars annually to the US economy. In addition, this research will be disseminated to the public through YouTube videos, radio programs at a local public radio station, outreach activities at the University of Missouri farm, as well as mentored research experiences for undergraduate and high school students.Stress-induced systemic signaling and systemic acquired acclimation play a pivotal role in plant resilience to abiotic stress. A novel imaging method that enables the measuring of rapid whole-plant systemic signals (reactive oxygen species, redox, calcium, and electric) in living plants grown in soil was recently developed. This method was used in previous studies to identify several important regulators of rapid systemic cell-to-cell signaling in plants, as well as to discover aboveground plant-to-plant systemic signaling. However, the mode of integration and hierarchy of systemic cell-to-cell and plant-to-plant signals is currently unknown. Using the newly developed imaging method, the hierarchy, mode of integration, and tissue specificity of different rapid systemic cell-to-cell and plant-to-plant signals triggered by a local application of excess light stress or wounding will be determined. In addition, the type of information being transferred during plant-to-plant signaling in response to excess light stress or wounding, and the protein complexes at the plasma membrane that integrate systemic calcium, reactive oxygen species, and redox signaling will be identified and studied. Results obtained from this study could lead to the development of novel approaches to enhance the resilience of crops to different stresses associated with global warming, as well as to the identification of key multiprotein complexes at the plasma membrane that link reactive oxygen species, redox, and calcium signaling.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.