Responses of roots to signals from environmentally perturbed shoots

我的长期兴趣是：（i）植物感知和响应环境压力/变化的机制是什么。(ii)激素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？(iii)芽和根是如何沟通的&根和芽是如何沟通的？环境变化/压力触发多种信号的产生，这些信号共同作用，以增加生存的方式改变生长和发育。根和芽被困在不同的环境中，但这两个器官必须合作。地上和地下器官需要有效地交换有关其他远程器官所经历的条件的信息。当这些信息到达靶器官时，会触发什么过程？器官之间传递的信息对环境变化的感知有何反应？如何协调这些信息？相互作用的信息网络是如何运作的？在这个建议中，我将集中在这个问题上，当根从环境扰动的芽中接收信息/信号时，会发生什么？根约占世界陆生植物生物量的50%，但与地上组织相比，对根的研究却少得令人惊讶。被埋在土壤中带来了技术挑战。虽然根的研究充满了困难，但我们已经开发出了技术，使我们能够有效地探索这个尚未充分了解的器官的生理学和生物化学。正在测试的假设是：受到一系列环境扰动（不同的红/远红辐射，UV-B，风应力，高CO2）的芽将向根发送信号，触发它们快速改变其代谢和生长发育。需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软件监测根结构和形态。

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.