Acquisition of Controlled-Environment Chambers for Plant Biological Research at Michigan State University

密歇根州立大学的Wayne Loescher博士和他的同事获得了一笔赠款，用于购买用于植物生物学研究的受控环境室。这样的实验室是必要的，主要有三个原因：(1)达到温室或田间所没有的一致、标准或最佳环境条件的潜力；(2)避免污染的封闭和卫生；(3)改善实验设计和研究效率的机会。要做的工作和要使用的方法是植物基因组学和蛋白质组学以及植物发育、生物化学、育种、遗传学、分子生物学、植物-环境和植物-病原体/害虫相互作用的最新进展的结果。当代植物生物学，特别是基因组学方面的工作经常利用拟南芥作为模型。虽然这种植物的大小和短的繁殖周期使它非常适合在受控环境中生长，但它对环境线索非常敏感。此外，成功地利用大种群进行突变选择和评估往往取决于丰富、高度一致和/或良好调节的环境条件。除了拟南芥，密歇根州立大学的许多植物研究人员也利用作物物种，试图在特定的环境条件下种植这些作物可能会带来巨大的挑战，例如，在较老的生长室或冬季传统的温室条件下，无法满足大多数作物的高光要求。对于分子遗传学工作，尤其是转基因植物的工作，遏制是重要的，而且在使用这样的系统时往往是必需的。必须包含花粉和其他繁殖体，相反，必须保护独特的遗传物质不受外来花粉的影响。避免病虫害的污染对所有植物也是至关重要的，这在生长室里比在温室里更容易实现。这种设备更广泛的意义和科学意义在于，现代受控环境在控制温度、光照、湿度和大气成分方面提供了更大的灵活性。计算机控制和监测系统现在允许操纵温度、光照强度和持续时间，以便复制特定的季节和每日环境变化和组合，并长期监测实验条件。新一代生长室设计将沿边界和墙壁的垂直温度梯度、水平光梯度、湿度和其他大气差异降至最低，从而最大限度地提高了生长室空间的效率。这些因素，加上设备可靠性的提高，也减少了实验所需的重复次数。最重要的是，新一代设备使想要特定条件(例如，温度、光质、强度和持续时间，或大气操作，如二氧化碳浓缩)的研究人员能够大大提高能力。新的设施将提供一个多研究者、跨部门的资源，以支持密歇根州立大学广泛的植物生物学研究。预计在开发新作物和新的和更好的传统作物品种方面将取得进展，了解植物如何发挥作用，它们如何响应环境条件和抵抗温度、干旱和盐分等环境压力，以及它们如何更好地抵御病虫害。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Wayne Loescher and colleagues at Michigan State University to acquire controlled environment chambers for plant biological research. Such chambers are necessary for three major reasons: (1) the potential to achieve consistent, standard, or optimum environmental conditions not found in greenhouses or fields; (2) containment and sanitation to avoid contamination; and (3) the opportunities to improve experimental designs and thus the efficiency of the research.The work to be done and the methods to be used are the result of recent advances in plant genomics and proteomics, and also in plant development, biochemistry, breeding, genetics, molecular biology, and plant-environment and plant-pathogen/pest interactions. Contemporary work in plant biology and particularly that in genomics often utilizes Arabidopsis thaliana as a model. Although this plant's size and short reproductive cycle make it well suited for growth in controlled-environments, it is nonetheless quite sensitive to environmental cues. Moreover, successfully using large populations for mutant selection and evaluation often depends on abundant, highly-consistent and/or well-regulated environmental conditions. Beyond Arabidopsis, many Michigan State University plant researchers also utilize crop species, and attempting to grow these under defined environmental conditions can present significant challenges, e.g., high light requirements for most crops cannot be met in older growth chambers or under conventional glasshouse conditions in the winter. For molecular genetic work, and especially that with transgenic plants, containment is important, and is often required in working with such systems. Pollen and other propagules must be contained, and, conversely, unique genetic materials must be protected from foreign pollen. Avoiding contamination by pests and diseases is also essential for all plants, and this is more readily achieved in growth chambers than in glasshouses. The broader significance and scientific importance of this equipment is that modern controlled environments offer much more flexibility in manipulating temperature, light, humidity, and atmospheric composition. Computer controls and monitoring systems now allow for manipulating temperatures, light intensity and duration so as to replicate specific seasonal and daily environmental variations and combinations and monitor experimental conditions for long periods. New generation growth chamber designs minimize vertical temperature gradients, horizontal light gradients, humidity and other atmospheric differences along the borders and walls, thus maximizing the efficiency of chamber space. These factors, along with increased equipment reliability, also reduce the numbers of replicates required for experimentation. Most importantly, new generation equipment allows researchers who want specific conditions (e.g., temperature, light quality, intensity, and duration, or atmospheric manipulations such as CO2 enrichment) much improved capabilities. The new facilities will provide a multi-investigator, interdepartmental resource to support the broad spectrum of plant biology research at MSU. Progress is expected in developing new crops and new and better varieties of traditional crops, in understanding how plants function, how they respond to environmental conditions and resist environmental stresses such as temperature, drought, and salt, and how they might better resist pests and diseases.