Unraveling molecular basis of phytochemical accumulation toward improved human health

揭示植物化学物质积累的分子基础以改善人类健康

• 批准号: 10514935
• 负责人: Bao-Hua Song
• 金额: $ 44.64万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10514935
• 关键词: Address; Alternative Medicine; Antidiabetic Drugs; Award; Biochemistry; CRISPR/Cas technology; Candidate Disease Gene; Chronic Disease; Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; Communities; Consumption; DNA Shuffling; Development; Diet; Economically Deprived Population; Environment; Exhibits; Fabaceae; Future; Gene Pool; Generations; Genes; Genetic; Genetic Polymorphism; Genomic approach; Genomics; Goals; Health; Human; Immune system; Immunity; Institution; Interdisciplinary Study; Knowledge; Lead; Low income; Malignant Neoplasms; Minority Women; Molecular; North Carolina; Outcome; Pathway interactions; Phase; Phytochemical; Plants; Population; Prevention strategy; Process; Production; Property; Public Health; Quantitative Genetics; Reporting; Research; Research Activity; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Resources; Soyasaponin; Soybeans; Students; System; Testing; Underrepresented Minority; Universities; Variant; Viral; Viral Cancer; Work; anti-cancer; anticancer activity; cancer therapy; diabetic; disadvantaged population; experience; gene function; genome editing; genomic data; graduate student; hands on research; improved; interdisciplinary approach; metabolic engineering; nutrition; pandemic disease; progenitor; programs; success; trait; undergraduate research experience; undergraduate student

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The overarching goal of this AREA project is to uncover the genetic basis regulating soyasaponin accumulation for the development of value-increased crops to boost the human immune system and for alternative medicine. This project is urgent and significant to meet current and future unpredicted pandemics. Soyasaponins are a group of naturally occurring phytochemicals in legume species and has been reported to boost the human immune system. They also exhibit anti-viral, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic activities. Previous research has been predominantly limited to examinations of soyasaponin's medicinal properties, but its biosynthetic pathway is not complete and little is known about its molecular determination in regulating soyasaponin accumulation. The lack of fundamental knowledge about these important bioactive compounds limits the success of plant metabolic engineering to develop soyasaponin-rich crops. The value-improved staple crops, such as soybean, can be consumed via a daily diet to boost immunity and can be made globally accessible to economically disadvantaged populations. This project is the first to bridge this critical gap and examine the molecular mechanisms regulating soyasaponin variation in natural plants applying interdisciplinary approaches, such as genomics, biochemistry, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. The research goal will be accomplished by completion of the following two specific aims: 1) to identify candidate genes regulating soyasaponin production in wild soybeans, the wild progenitor of cultivated soybean with a large gene pool; and 2) to validate gene function of identified candidate genes in contributing to soyasaponin production using state-of-the-art CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system. Our scientific contribution here is significant as it will address a crucial fundamental question of molecular basis regulating vital phytochemical production in natural plants. Specifically, our study will improve understanding of the molecular components and their functional relationships in soyasaponin production. Project results are expected to provide a significant step toward efficient plant metabolic engineering and/or molecular breeding to develop value-increased soybean cultivars to boost the human immune system through diet and ultimately lead to alternative strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer and other chronic diseases. The mapping population and large genomic data will provide the plant community resource for deploying similar strategies to the study of other human health-related traits. This comprehensive research project will engage undergraduate and graduate students in a comprehensive interdisciplinary research environment. This AREA award will enhance the research environment at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a rapidly growing urban university with a large number of first-generation and low-income students. The PI has a strong track record of involving under-represented minorities and women in her research program. The final outcome of this interdisciplinary research project will create a broader impact on the improvement of public health, both locally and globally.

项目总结/摘要 本AREA项目的首要目标是揭示调节大豆皂苷积累的遗传基础 用于开发增值作物以增强人体免疫系统和替代医学。 该项目对于应对当前和未来无法预测的流行病具有紧迫性和重要性。 三七皂苷是豆科植物中天然存在的一组植物化学物质， 据说能增强人体免疫系统它们还表现出抗病毒、抗癌和抗糖尿病活性。 以前的研究主要局限于大豆皂苷的药用特性的检查， 它的生物合成途径并不完整，关于它在调节中的分子决定作用知之甚少， 大豆皂甙积累缺乏对这些重要的生物活性化合物的基础知识 限制了植物代谢工程在开发富含大豆皂甙作物方面的成功。增值主食 大豆等农作物可以通过日常饮食食用以增强免疫力，并且可以在全球范围内提供 经济上处于不利地位的人口。这个项目是第一个弥合这一关键差距，并审查 利用跨学科方法研究天然植物中调节大豆皂苷变异的分子机制， 例如基因组学、生物化学和CRISPR-Cas9基因编辑。 本研究的目的将透过以下两个具体目标来达成：1）辨识 栽培大豆的野生祖先野生大豆中调节大豆皂苷生产的候选基因 具有大的基因库;以及2）验证所鉴定的候选基因的基因功能， 使用最先进的CRISPR-Cas9基因编辑系统生产大豆皂苷。 我们在这方面的科学贡献是重要的，因为它将解决一个关键的基本问题， 调节天然植物中重要的植物化学物质生产的基础。具体来说，我们的研究将提高 了解大豆皂甙生产中的分子组成及其功能关系。项目 这些结果有望为有效的植物代谢工程和/或分子生物学提供重要的一步。 培育增值大豆品种，通过饮食提高人体免疫系统， 最终导致预防和治疗癌症和其他慢性病的替代战略。 作图群体和大的基因组数据将为部署类似的植物群落提供资源。 研究其他人类健康相关特征的策略。这项综合研究项目将涉及 本科生和研究生在一个全面的跨学科研究环境。这一领域 该奖项将加强北卡罗来纳州夏洛特大学的研究环境，这是一个快速增长的 有大量第一代和低收入家庭学生的城市大学。私家侦探有很强的跟踪能力 在她的研究计划中涉及代表性不足的少数民族和妇女的记录。的最终结果 这一跨学科的研究项目将对改善公共卫生产生更广泛的影响， 本地和全球。