A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system for analyzing plant defense hormone salicylic acid

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With the human population reaching almost eight billion, sustainable solutions are needed to ensure food security. One major factor contributing to crop yield and quality loss is diseases caused by pathogens. Every year farmers spend billions of dollars on pesticides, even though many of them are environmentally unfriendly, toxic to mammals, and can lead to pesticide-resistant pathogens. An alternative method is to fine-tune the natural defense system that plants employ to fight against pathogens. Such strategy is more sustainable and environmentally safe. To achieve this, scientists around the globe, including the ones in the applicants' labs, are teaming up to study the virulence strategies of pathogens in disturbing host immunity, and the underlying general defense mechanisms of plants. Salicylic acid (SA) is an essential plant defense hormone. Quantifying SA levels accurately is crucial for analyzing plant immune responses upon pathogen infections. It is equivalent of a routine white blood cell count to evaluate human immunity status. Because we routinely measure SA levels in studies of plant immunity and pathogen infection strategies, an HPLC system was customized for SA measurements. It had been heavily used not only by the Li lab, but also other neighboring Kronstad and Zhang groups. The current system served us for over 20 years. Its usage allowed us to solve the SA biosynthesis pathway, uncover the SA receptors, and identify the pathways SA is regulating. A large amount of data generated using this HPLC system was instrumental for several high-impact papers recently published in top journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, and Plant Cell. SA measurement will remain an essential assay to dissect plant immune signaling pathways and uncover virulence strategies of pathogens. Unfortunately, due to its heavy usage over the past 21 years, the HPLC system broke down early 2021. Old broken parts are not available and servicing support for the system is no longer provided. Alternative methods for measuring SA levels without the HPLC system, such as a bioluminescence bioassay, are not accurate and unsuitable for high quality publications. The loss of the HPLC system significantly impacts the research output from our labs and there is an immediate need for a replacement to process the backlog of samples we have now accumulated. The purpose of this application is to obtain funds for an upgraded replacement system to facilitate accurate SA measurement. The HPLC will be shared among researchers of multiple labs in the Biological Sciences and Michael Smith buildings at UBC. Its availability will continue to help us attract excellent diverse trainees and train them with analytical chemistry skills. No discrimination of any kind will be allowed in its usage. The applicants pledge to especially ensure that users from underserved communities receive fair and timely access to the equipment and training.