MRI: Acquisition of a Tandem MS for Plant Cellular & Subcellular Metabolic Studies

Donald Danforth植物科学中心获得了购买串联质谱仪的奖励，用于植物细胞和亚细胞代谢研究。丹佛斯中心在质谱技术和方法开发方面的投资有利于植物代谢的综合研究，并为更大的科学界提供指导协议。这种新仪器支持的项目旨在通过详细了解植物如何将太阳提供的能量转化为生物质以及植物如何感知和响应环境和病原体的攻击来提高粮食和生物燃料作物的生产力。作为新技术发展的一部分，PI布拉德利·埃文斯和副PI道格·艾伦将与哈里斯-斯托州立大学的年轻研究人员一起进行一项特殊研究，以探测新仪器分析困难样品的能力。这将增加在丹佛斯中心进行的教育外展。目前，未来科学家的培训是通过积极的NSF-REU项目进行的，招募在丹佛斯中心实验室工作的高中生以获得课堂学分，参与高中生的区域项目- STARS（学生和教师作为研究科学家），教师研讨会以及将我们的科学家与附近学校联系起来的互动性初中和高中指导项目。这些项目对于丹佛斯中心加强植物科学界的核心任务目标至关重要。长期目标是提高植物生产力，以：1)熟练地养活不断增长的世界人口，2)提供石油的可持续原料替代品，3)提供有用的生物活性化合物；所有这些都是为了提高生活质量。需要先进的串联质谱仪器来研究存在于非常低和动态水平的代谢物，并分离到特定的细胞和细胞器。了解植物生物化学功能的一个主要障碍是我们对代谢的不完整描述。植物代谢是一个非常动态的过程，在微小的隔间和少量的物质中进行。因此，正是植物生命中的精细结构和动态代谢事件决定了植物的功能、适应性、农业产量，并使植物能够对不断变化的环境和压力做出反应。然而，这些活动不能定量地理解，不完整的代谢特征阻碍了对生化途径和基因和蛋白质功能的阐明，从而阻碍了在生物技术中的成功应用。能够分析微量浓度的灵敏质谱仪有可能改变人们对植物功能许多方面的认识。美国国家科学基金会资助的Donald Danforth植物科学中心和周边社区的研究工作和其他项目正在通过研究很少存在的代谢物的方法来推进科学，并将通过这项技术得到极大的扩展。

An award is made to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to purchase a tandem mass spectrometer for plant cellular and subcellular metabolic studies. The investment in mass spectrometry technology and method development at the Danforth Center benefits integrated studies of plant metabolism and provides guiding protocols for the greater scientific community. The projects supported by this new instrumentation aim to increase productivity of food and biofuel crops through a detailed understanding of how plants turn energy provided by the sun to biomass and how plants sense and respond to their environment and attack by pathogens. As part of the development of new technologies, PI Bradley Evans and Co-PI Doug Allen will perform a special study with young investigators from Harris-Stowe State University to probe the new instrument's capability to analyze difficult samples. This will add to the educational outreach taking place at the Danforth Center. Currently, the training of tomorrow's scientists occurs through an active NSF-REU program, recruitment of high school students that work in Danforth Center laboratories for classroom credit, participation in a regional program for high school students - STARS (Students and Teachers As Research Scientists), workshops for teachers and an interactive middle- and high school mentoring program that connects our scientists with nearby schools. These programs are essential to core Danforth Center mission goals to strengthen the plant science community.The long term goal is to improve plant productivity that: i) proficiently feeds a growing world population, ii) provides sustainable feed-stock alternatives to petroleum and iii) supplies useful bioactive compounds; all designed to improve quality of life. Advanced tandem mass spectrometry instrumentation is needed to investigate metabolites present at very low and dynamic levels and segregated to specific cells and organelles. A major impediment to understanding biochemical function in plants is our incomplete characterization of metabolism. Plant metabolism is a very dynamic process and operates in tiny compartments and low amounts of material. Thus it is the fine architecture and dynamic metabolic events throughout plant life that define function, fitness, agricultural yield and allow plants to respond to changing environments and stresses. These activities are, however, not quantitatively understood and incomplete metabolic characterization prevents elucidation of biochemical pathways and gene and protein functions, thereby precluding successful applications in biotechnology. Sensitive mass spectrometers that are capable of analyzing minute concentrations have the potential to transform understanding in many aspects of plant function. Research efforts on NSF-funded and other projects at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and surrounding community are advancing science through methods development on scantly present metabolites and will be greatly extended by this technology.