400 Million Years of Food Transport in Plants: unearthing the origin, diversity and genetic toolkit of vasculature

植物中 4 亿年的食物运输：挖掘脉管系统的起源、多样性和遗传工具包

基本信息

批准号：
MR/T018585/1
负责人：
Alexander Hetherington
金额：
$ 138.75万
依托单位：
University of Edinburgh
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2020 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FT018585%2F1
关键词：
400 Million Years Food Transport

项目摘要

Distribution of water, mineral nutrients and food throughout the plant is carried out using an internal plumbing system made up of two highly specialised tissues - xylem and phloem. The acquisition of these specialised tissues during plant evolution was one of the key innovations that allowed plants to evolve from tiny moss-like species into the towering trees and the diversity of crop species that dominate the landscape today. The xylem and phloem are intimately linked, but functionally different, with the xylem transporting water and the phloem transporting food throughout the plant. All economically important plants, whether crop or forest species, rely on the transport of food, in the form of sugars, through the phloem. However, despite the key role that the phloem plays in all parts of plant life, we do not know how the structure and function of the phloem will change, or can be engineered to respond, to future climate change. A vital line of evidence for predicting how the phloem will likely change in the future is preserved in the previously unexplored fossil record of plants that lived through prehistoric episodes of global climate change, and extremes of atmospheric CO2. The aim of the proposed research is to investigate key unanswered questions about the evolution of the phloem, one of the most important but least well understood plant tissues. I will transform our knowledge of phloem evolution by tackling three overarching questions: (i) when did the phloem originate, (ii) how has its structure, function and genetic toolkit evolved over the past 400 million years, (iii) how has phloem evolution been driven by climate change? To answer these questions I will combine cutting-edge 3D imaging of fossils, computational modelling of phloem function never before undertaken with fossils, and comparative genomic analyses of living plants. To answer these key questions I have identified three objectives for the Fellowship:1. Define the origin of the phloem in land plants2. Reveal major evolutionary innovations in phloem structure and function in relation to climatic change through geological time.3. Characterise the genetic innovations that underpinned the diversification of the phloemCombining studies of living species, fossils and genes, I will draw evolutionary conclusions about the phloem that none of these lines of evidence alone could achieve, marking a step change in our understanding of phloem evolution. The impact of this study will be to shed light on the evolution of this crucial plant tissue and to help understand how the structure and function of the phloem is tied to the level of atmospheric CO2. The findings of the Fellowship will therefore be essential for predicting how the phloem structure of living plants, including economically important crop and tree species, will likely respond in the next 50 to 100 years to rising atmospheric CO2 caused by anthropogenic climate change.I will be uniquely placed at the University of Edinburgh to carry out this programme of research. The School of Biological Sciences (SBS) is a world leader in studying the structural, functional and genetic changes that underpin complex plant traits in diverse lineages. In addition, my Fellowship will benefit greatly from collaboration with the palaeobiology group in the outstanding School of Geoscience and the collections of the two project partner organisations; the fossil plants in the National Museum Scotland (NMS) and living collections in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). In particular, the NMS contains a unique and unexploited collection that will be essential for my proposed research. Taken together, the excellent research environment in SBS, strength in palaeobiology in the School of Geoscience and access to the collections of the project partners makes this a Fellowship that could not be successfully accomplished anywhere else in the world.

使用由两个高度专业的组织-Xylem和Phloem组成的内部管道系统进行水，矿物营养和食物的分布。在植物进化过程中，这些专门的组织的获取是允许植物从细小的苔藓样物种进化为高耸的树木以及当今占主导地位的农作物物种的多样性的关键创新之一。木质部和韧皮部密切相关，但在功能上有所不同，木质部运输水和整个植物的韧皮部将食物运输。所有在经济上重要的植物，无论是农作物还是森林物种，都以糖的形式依赖食物的运输。但是，尽管韧皮部在植物生命的各个地方发挥着关键作用，但我们不知道韧皮部的结构和功能将如何改变，或者可以对未来的气候变化进行反应。在以前未开发的化石记录中，通过史前史前史前气候变化和大气二氧化碳的极端植物的植物记录保留了预测韧皮部可能会发生变化的重要证据。拟议的研究的目的是研究有关韧皮部的演变的关键未解决问题，韧皮部是最重要但最不理理解的植物组织之一。我将通过解决三个总体问题来改变我们对韧皮部进化的了解：（i）韧皮部何时起源，（ii）其结构，功能和遗传工具包在过去4亿年中如何进化，（iii）韧皮部的进化是如何由气候变化驱动的？为了回答这些问题，我将结合化石的尖端3D成像，从未用化石进行的韧皮部功能的计算建模以及对生物植物的比较基因组分析。为了回答这些关键问题，我已经确定了奖学金的三个目标：1。定义土地植物中韧皮部的起源2。揭示了韧皮部结构中的主要进化创新和与气候变化在地质时期有关的作用。3。我的遗传创新是基于生物，化石和基因的韧皮恋研究的多样化的基础，我将得出关于韧皮部的进化结论，即仅这些证据都无法实现，这标志着我们对凤凰进化的理解的一步变化。这项研究的影响将是阐明这种关键植物组织的演变，并有助于了解韧皮部的结构和功能如何与大气二氧化碳的水平相关。因此，研究金的发现对于预测生物植物的韧皮部结构（包括经济重要的农作物和树种）如何在未来50至100年内对人为气候变化引起的大气二氧化碳的不断上升。生物科学学院（SBS）是研究研究各种谱系中复杂植物特征的结构，功能和遗传变化的世界领导者。此外，我的奖学金将从与杰出的地球科学学院和两个项目合作伙伴组织的收藏中的古生物学集团合作中受益匪浅；苏格兰国家博物馆（NMS）的化石植物和皇家植物园爱丁堡（RBGE）的生活收藏品。特别是，NMS包含一个独特而没有开发的收藏，这对于我建议的研究至关重要。综上所述，SB的出色研究环境，地球科学学院的古生物学实力以及对项目合作伙伴的收藏的机会，这使得这是一个奖学金，无法成功完成世界其他任何地方。