Untapping the Potential of Small Effecter Molecules Produced by Endophytic Microbes for Cellulose Modification Strategies

纤维素是每一种植物细胞的重要组成部分。它也是地球上含量最丰富的生物聚合物，具有重要的社会意义(食物、衣物、住所和燃料)。因此，识别调节纤维素生物合成的化合物对于提高生物材料的人类用途至关重要。目前的项目原因是，与植物相关的微生物分泌能够改变植物纤维素生物合成的天然产物，这可以被系统地利用来鉴定新的生物活性化合物。天然小分子的复杂性通常限制了分离生物活性化合物的能力(S)。为了克服这一障碍，该项目将把化学指纹分析与遗传学和活细胞成像相结合，以确定生物活性成分及其作用机制(S)。该项目将通过科学准备计划的培训产生广泛的社区影响，该计划旨在为学生提供高中和大学之间的桥梁，并加强教授、高中教师和学生的教育学。在这个项目中开发的资源将通过一个在线数据库存放或提供给其他人。

Cellulose is an essential component of every plant cell. It is also the most abundant biopolymer on Earth and of great societal importance (food, clothing, shelter and fuel). Therefore, identifying compounds that modulate cellulose biosynthesis is critical to enhance biomaterials for human use. The current project reasons that plant associated microorganisms secrete natural products that are capable of modifying plant cellulose biosynthesis, and that this could be systematically exploited to identify new bioactive compounds. Complexity of natural small molecules generally limits the ability to isolate bioactive compound(s). To overcome this hurdle, this project will couple chemical fingerprinting with genetics and live cell imaging to identify bioactive constituents and the mechanism(s) by which they act. The project will have broad community impact through training via the Science Readiness Program, a program tailored to provide a bridge for students between high school and University and to enhance the pedagogy of professor, high school teacher and student. Resources developed in this project will be deposited or made available for others via an online database.