Evolutionary Adaptation of the Chemical Language of Nutrient Acquisition Strategies in Higher Plants

植物的自养和固着性质意味着它们需要以一种微调的方式对营养限制做出反应，才能生长和生存。代谢物在这些适应过程中扮演着重要的角色，无论是作为直接调节器还是作为激活的途径的生化指示物。植物已经从相对简单的单细胞生物体进化而来，这些生物体通过代谢产物调节的群体感应机制对环境具有显着的适应性。初步证据表明，植物要么保留了部分这种能力，要么进化出了新的营养识别策略。这个项目将阐明这些途径，以获得对植物营养获取的新见解。

The autotrophic and sessile nature of plants means that they need to respond to nutrient limitations in a finely tuned manner to grow and survive. Metabolites play an important role during these adaptations, either as direct modulators or as biochemical indicators of the pathways activated. Plants have evolved from relatively simple unicellular organisms that have a remarkable adaptability to respond to their environment through metabolite-modulated quorum-sensing mechanisms. Preliminary evidence suggests that plants have either retained some of this ability or have evolved novel nutrient recognition strategies. This project will elucidate these pathways to gain new insights into nutrient acquisition in plants.