Linking metabolomics and metagenomics to resolve plant-microbial interactions involved in soil aggregation and carbon storage

将代谢组学和宏基因组学联系起来，解决土壤聚集和碳储存中涉及的植物-微生物相互作用

• 批准号: 2090402
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2090402
• 关键词: Linking; metabolomics; metagenomics; resolve; plant

Four year PhD on plant-microbe-soil interactions: Maintaining healthy and productive soils is essential for global food security. Plant-microbial interactions play a major role in the formation of soil macroaggregates (>500 um diameter soil crumbs) that store carbon, nutrients and water and are essential components of most high quality arable soils. Conventional intensive arable cropping has decreased the abundance of macroaggregates, increasing the risks of crop yields being limited by drought and flooding, and soil being eroded (Blankinship et al.,2016, Geoderma). Crops and their associated soil microbial populations differ in the extent to which they support soil aggregation, amongst the best being short-term grassland (leys) containing a mixture of grass and clover. Although soil aggregation is known to involve interactions between plant roots, soil microorganisms, and organic molecules, the mechanisms remain poorly understood, constraining our abilities to restore these degraded but critical components of arable soil structure through targeted crop-breeding and changes to land management.Objectives: Using grass-clover ley plots planted in 2015 in replicated arable fields that continue to be conventionally managed, the research student will combine the use of metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities with metabolomic 'fingerprinting' and total organic carbon measurements in soil aggregates of different sizes. These studies will seek to simultaneously resolve the co-dependence of root-associated microbial communities and metabolites increasing macroaggregate formation and soil carbon storage in leys compared to arable fields. Our proof-of concept studies reveal important differences in metabolites in soil aggregates from arable land compared to unploughed field margins, and our leys improve soil aggregation, and increase soil water storage by 10%.Novelty and Timeliness: The project seeks to resolve the mechanistic basis of plant-microbial community and interactions and effects of their metabolites driving soil aggregation and how leys differ from arable land in these processes and outcomes. The project benefits from access to a new portable mass-spectrometer, enabling rapid analysis of metabolites immediately on soil sampling, complemented by a wide range of specialist mass-spectrometry facilities including stable isotope (13C, 15N) and high throughput lipid analysis using Ultra Performance Convergence Chromatography (UPC2). These are complemented by the high-throughput next generation Illumina MiSeq and nanopore (MinION) sequencing facilities at the University of York, together with bioinformatics pipelines for analysis developed in Dr Helgason's lab. The project couples the application of these state-of-the-art 'omics' technologies from the scale of different sized soil aggregates through to the effects of changes in land management and crop rotations at field-scales to gain mechanistic understanding of how leys improve soil quality. The studentship will include a 3 month Professional Internship Placement away from the lab

四年制植物-微生物-土壤相互作用博士：保持健康和多产的土壤对全球粮食安全至关重要。植物-微生物相互作用在土壤大团聚体（直径大于500 μ m的土壤碎屑）的形成中起着重要作用，大团聚体储存碳、养分和水，是大多数优质耕地土壤的基本组成部分。传统的集约化耕作减少了大团聚体的丰度，增加了作物产量受到干旱和洪水限制以及土壤侵蚀的风险（Blankelin等人，2016，Geoderma）。作物及其相关的土壤微生物种群在支持土壤聚集的程度上有所不同，其中最好的是含有草和三叶草混合物的短期草地（leys）。虽然已知土壤团聚涉及植物根系、土壤微生物和有机分子之间的相互作用，但其机制仍然知之甚少，限制了我们通过有针对性的作物育种和改变土地管理来恢复这些退化但可耕地土壤结构的关键组成部分的能力。目标：使用2015年在继续进行常规管理的复制耕地中种植的草苜蓿地，该研究生将联合收割机结合使用土壤微生物群落的宏基因组学分析与代谢组学"指纹"和不同大小的土壤团聚体中的总有机碳测量。这些研究将寻求同时解决与根相关的微生物群落和代谢产物的相互依赖性，与耕地相比，增加大团聚体的形成和土壤碳储存。我们的概念验证研究揭示了可耕地与未耕地边缘土壤团聚体中代谢物的重要差异，我们的leys改善了土壤团聚体，并将土壤蓄水量增加了10%。新颖性和时效性：该项目旨在解决植物的机械基础-微生物群落及其代谢产物的相互作用和影响，推动土壤聚集，以及leys在这些过程中与耕地的不同，结果。该项目得益于使用新型便携式质谱仪，能够在土壤采样时立即快速分析代谢物，并辅以广泛的专业质谱设施，包括稳定同位素（13C，15N）和使用超高效收敛色谱（UPC 2）的高通量脂质分析。约克大学的高通量下一代Illumina MiSeq和纳米孔（MinION）测序设施以及Helgason博士实验室开发的生物信息学分析管道对这些进行了补充。该项目结合了这些最先进的“组学”技术的应用，从不同大小的土壤团聚体的规模到土地管理和作物轮作的变化在田间规模的影响，以获得对leys如何改善土壤质量的机理的理解。该学生将包括3个月的专业实习安置远离实验室