Identifying and Understanding Connections between Photosynthesis and Amino Acid Metabolism

光合作用为人类和其他动物提供食物、燃料和纤维。不断增长的人口和全球对高蛋白饮食和生物燃料的需求不断增加，产生了对提高植物生产力和改善作物营养质量的需求。为了提高作物产量和营养价值，更好地了解植物如何利用空气中的碳和土壤中的氮来产生生物量是很重要的。在植物的绿色组织中，光合作用和许多氨基酸的生物合成都发生在叶绿体中。这些过程是相互联系的，因为光合作用为氨基酸的生物合成提供了碳和能量，而氨基酸是光合作用蛋白质成分的基本组成部分。尽管意识到这种关系，但我们对这些重要生物过程如何相互作用的理解存在很大差距。该项目的长期目标是了解光合作用与氨基酸代谢之间的联系。拟南芥表型数据（光合参数、氨基酸和脂肪酸谱、种子碳氮含量）的计算整合将用于生成候选基因列表，这些候选基因可以指导我们找到这些联系。候选基因将通过实验测试光合作用和氨基酸代谢的变化，而那些具有强大和有趣表型的突变基因将进行更集中的研究。通过增加我们对光合作用和氨基酸代谢之间复杂相互作用的理解，我们将能够在两者中实现有利的变化。更广泛的影响该项目将增加我们对光合作用、碳代谢和氮代谢之间相互作用的理解，这些结果将为植物育种和作物改良的生物技术方法提供信息。该项目的数据和成果将通过出版物和项目网站向公众公布。除了为研究生和本科生提供全年培训机会外，该项目还将整合研究和教育，作为西密歇根大学（WMU）和密歇根州立大学（MSU）本科生暑期研究经验的一部分。WMU和MSU在研究、教育和推广活动方面的合作也将为两个实验室的受训者提供跨学科、跨机构的培训和经验。

Intellectual MeritPhotosynthesis provides food, fuel, and fiber to humans and other animals. The growing human population and the increasing worldwide demand for high protein diets and biofuels generate needs for higher plant productivity and improved nutritional quality in crop plants. To improve crop yield and nutritional value, it is important to have a better understanding of how plants utilize carbon from the air and nitrogen from the soil to produce biomass. In green tissues of plants, photosynthesis and the biosynthesis of many amino acids both occur in chloroplasts. These processes are linked to each other, as photosynthesis provides both the carbon and energy for amino acid biosynthesis, while amino acids are the building blocks for the protein components of photosynthesis. Despite an awareness of this relationship, large gaps exist in our understanding of how these important biological processes interact. The long-term goal of this project is to understand the connections between photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism. Computational integration of Arabidopsis thaliana phenotype data (photosynthetic parameters, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, seed carbon and nitrogen content) of mutants with defects in chloroplast-targeted nuclear-encoded gene products will be used to generate a list of candidate genes that can guide us to those connections. The candidate genes will be experimentally tested for changes in photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism, and those mutants with robust and interesting phenotypes will then undergo more focused studies. By increasing our understanding of the complex interactions between photosynthesis and amino acid metabolism, we will be in a position to effectuate advantageous changes in both. Broader ImpactsThis project will increase our understanding of the interactions between photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, and nitrogen metabolism, and these results should inform plant breeding and biotechnological approaches to crop improvement. The data and outcomes of the project will be made publicly available via publications and a project website. In addition to providing year-round training opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students, the project will integrate research and education as part of established summer Research Experiences for Undergraduate Programs at Western Michigan University (WMU) and Michigan State University (MSU). The collaboration between WMU and MSU with respect to the research, education, and outreach activities will also provide cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional training and experience to trainees in both laboratories.