RII Track-4: Penetrating the Inner Lives of Leaves to Breed Water-Wise Crops Using Math, 3D Imaging, and Experiments

有必要用更少的土地和更少的投入生产更多的粮食，以满足不断增长的人口的需求，同时保护环境。利用作物野生近缘种的性状可以帮助培育可持续的作物品种，用更少的资源生产更多的食物。叶片解剖对光合作用有重要影响，它决定了碳的增加和水分的流失。这个项目的目的是弄清楚野生近缘植物的叶片解剖是否可以提高作物的水分利用效率。为了实现这一目标，PI将整合现有的叶片中碳和水运动的数学表示，用野生番茄叶片的3D图像参数化模型，并使用定制的测量光合作用的设备测试模型预测。收集野生番茄的数学工具和数据将提高我们国家可持续种植食物的能力。作物物种的野生近缘种是一个未被充分利用的特征库，可以使农业更具可持续性。叶片的内部解剖结构影响光合作用过程中碳增益和水分损失率。目前尚不清楚如何通过利用作物野生近缘植物叶片解剖结构的自然变异来提高作物的水分利用效率。该项目旨在利用最近在叶片内部建模、成像和测量方面的进展，以发现西红柿的野生亲缘作物（Solanum spp.）如何以及为什么比它们的驯化表亲更明智地用水。该项目的目标是1)模拟叶片内部的气体交换（H2O和CO2通量），以了解解剖结构如何影响水分利用效率；2)利用微ct对叶片内部进行三维成像，准确量化通过建模识别的关键性状；3)测量野生番茄的气体交换参数，验证模型的有效性。与加州大学戴维斯分校的合作者一起，这些目标将通过分析叶片内二氧化碳和水运输的空间显式模型来实现，使用野生番茄叶片内部的3D图像来参数化模型，并使用定制的气体交换系统来测试模型预测人工气体混合物。这项工作将揭示通过引入野生近缘种的叶片解剖变异来提高作物可持续性的机遇和潜在挑战。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is a need to grow more food with less land and fewer inputs to meet the demands of a growing population while simultaneously protecting the environment. Leveraging traits in the wild relatives of crop species could help breed sustainable crop varieties that produce more food with fewer resources. Leaf anatomy has a major effect on photosynthesis by determining rates of carbon gain and water loss. The aim of this project is to figure out if the leaf anatomy of wild relatives can improve the water-use efficiency of crops. To achieve this goal, the PI will integrate existing mathematical representations of carbon and water movement within leaves, parameterize models with 3D images of leaves from wild tomato species, and test model predictions using customized equipment for measuring photosynthesis. The mathematical tools and data collected on wild tomatoes will improve our nation's ability to grow food sustainably.Wild relatives of crop species are an underutilized reservoir of traits that could make agriculture more sustainable. The internal anatomy of leaves influences the rate of carbon gain and water loss during photosynthesis. It is not clear how crop water-use efficiency could be improved by harnessing natural variation in leaf anatomy among crop-wild relatives. This project aims to leverage recent advances in modeling, imaging, and measuring of leaf interiors in order to discover how and why crop-wild relatives of tomato (Solanum spp.) use water more wisely than their domesticated cousins. The goals of this project are to 1) model gas exchange (H2O and CO2 fluxes) in the leaf interior to understand how anatomy affects water-use efficiency; 2) image 3D leaf interiors using microCT to accurately quantify key traits identified by modeling; and 3) measure gas exchange parameters in wild tomatoes to validate modeling. With collaborators at the University of California, Davis, these objectives will be achieved by analyzing a spatially-explicit model of CO2 and water transport within the leaf, parameterizing the model using 3D images of wild tomato leaf interiors, and testing model predictions using a custom gas exchange system for artificial gas mixtures. This work will reveal both the opportunities and potential challenges of improving crop sustainability by introducing leaf anatomical variation from wild relatives.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.