Responses of roots to signals from environmentally perturbed shoots

我的长期兴趣是：(I)植物对环境压力/变化的感知和反应机制是什么。(2)荷尔蒙和其他信号分子作为波动环境的信使和放大器的作用是什么？(3)地上部与根之间、根与地上部之间是如何沟通的？环境变化/压力触发了多种信号的产生&这些信号协同作用，以提高存活率的方式改变生长和发育。根和芽被困在不同的环境中，但两个器官必须协同行动。地上和地下器官需要有效地交换关于另一个远处器官正在经历的情况的信息。当这些消息到达目标器官时，它们会触发什么过程？在器官之间传递的响应环境变化的感知信息的身份是什么？这样的信息是如何协调的？相互作用的信息网络是如何运作的？在这项提案中，我将重点讨论这样一个问题：当根部收到来自受环境干扰的新梢的信息/信号时，根部会发生什么？根约占世界陆地植物生物量的50%，但令人惊讶的是，与地上组织相比，关于根的研究很少。被埋在土壤中带来了技术挑战。虽然对根的研究充满了困难，但我们已经开发出技术，使我们能够有效地探索这个未被充分理解的器官的生理和生化。正在测试的假设是：新梢受到一系列环境扰动(不同的红光/远红辐射、UV-B、风应力、高二氧化碳)将向根发送信号，触发它们迅速调整自己的新陈代谢和生长发育。要测量的一些参数包括：根激素水平的变化(首先集中在乙烯上)，根和根分泌物的代谢指纹和足迹，以及用MacRhizo软件监测根构型和形态。

My long-term interests are: (i) What are the mechanisms by which plants sense & respond to environmental stress/change. (ii) What is the role of hormones & other signal molecules as messengers & amplifiers of a fluctuating environment? (iii) How do shoots communicate with roots & roots communicate with shoots? Environmental change/stress triggers the production of multiple signals & these acting in concert modify growth & development in ways that increase survival. Roots & shoots are trapped in dissimilar environments, yet both organs must act cooperatively. Above- & below-ground organs need to efficiently exchange information about conditions being experienced by the other distant organ. What processes do these messages trigger when they reach the target organ? What is the identity of messages passing between organs in response to sensing of environmental alteration? How are such messages coordinated? How do the networks of interacting messages function? In this proposal I will focus on the question, what happens in roots when they receive messages/signals from environmentally perturbed shoots? Roots make up approximately 50% of the world's terrestrial plant biomass yet there is surprisingly little research on roots compared to aboveground tissues. Being buried in the soil presents technical challenges. While investigation of roots is fraught with difficulties, we have developed techniques that allow us to effectively probe the physiology & biochemistry of this inadequately understood organ. The hypothesis being tested is: Shoots, subjected to range of environmental perturbations (different red/far red irradiation, UV-B, wind stress, high CO2) will send signals to roots triggering them to quickly modify their metabolism & growth & development. Some of the parameters to be measured are: changes in levels of root hormones (concentrating on ethylene in the first instance), metabolic fingerprinting & footprinting of roots & root exudates, & monitoring of root architecture & morphology with MacRhizo software.