NSFDEB-NERC: Collaborative research: Plant chemistry and its impact on diversification and habitat of plants adapted to extreme environments

植物产生各种各样的化合物，包括吸引传粉者的色素和阻止食草动物的毒素。这些化合物通常是不同植物群中某些植物部分所特有的。这个项目试图了解植物衍生化合物的进化，以及这些化合物如何促进植物多样性。为了解决这些问题，该项目将把重点放在石竹目植物上，石竹目植物包括仙人掌和许多高山和北极植物，以对温暖、干燥或寒冷环境的非凡适应而闻名。许多石竹目物种从氨基酸酪氨酸中产生大量不同的化合物。由于固有的生化权衡，这些酪氨酸衍生化合物的产生可能会以牺牲其他由氨基酸苯丙氨酸衍生的化合物为代价。我们将研究这两种氨基酸的生产平衡及其对多种化合物生产的影响，这些化合物对紫外线屏蔽、授粉和食草动物威慑具有重要作用。这项工作将为天然植物色素的生物技术生产提供信息，并将有助于阐明一些具有药用价值的高价值植物衍生化学品的生物合成途径。合作的美英团队将在进化背景下为学生和博士后学者提供遗传和生化方法的多学科培训机会。专业协会会议的讲习班、K-12夏令营单元和多个公共外联单元将向公众介绍这些概念，并突出生物多样性与高价值植物化合物之间的关系。这项研究将进行广泛的调查，以确定关键的酪氨酸和苯丙氨酸衍生的代谢物在石竹目600种物种中的出现和分布；研究这些酪氨酸衍生的代谢特征与生物适应和多样化模式的关联；并确定负责这些代谢物生物合成的进化遗传机制。将开发新的工具来模拟代谢物进化的等级性质，并将向更广泛的科学家社区提供。该项目将全面描述石竹目富含酪氨酸代谢的程度，定义这些代谢物与整个石竹目生物多样性模式的关联程度，并解决复杂的酪氨酸衍生代谢特征背后的遗传路径的进化组装。该奖项由环境生物学部门的系统学和生物多样性科学集群和综合组织系统部门的综合生态生理学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Plants produce diverse chemical compounds, including pigments for attracting pollinators and toxins for deterring herbivores. These chemical compounds are often unique to certain plant parts in different plant groups. This project seeks to understand the evolution of plant-derived chemical compounds and how these compounds promote plant diversity. To address these questions, the project will focus on the plants within the Caryophyllales, a group that includes cacti and many alpine and arctic plants known for extraordinary adaptations to warm, dry, or cold environments. Many Caryophyllales species produce unusually large amounts of diverse compounds derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Due to inherent biochemical trade-offs, the production of these tyrosine-derived compounds may come at the expense of other compounds derived from the amino acid phenylalanine. We will study the balance of the production of these two amino acids and its effect on the production of myriad compounds important in UV shielding, pollination, and herbivore deterrence. The work will inform the biotechnological production of natural plant pigments and will help to elucidate biosynthetic pathways of a number of high-value plant-derived chemicals with pharmaceutical value. The collaborative US-UK team will provide multidisciplinary training opportunities for students and post-doctoral scholars in genetic and biochemical methods in an evolutionary context. Workshops at professional society meetings, a K-12 summer camp module, and multiple public outreach modules will bring these concepts to the public and highlight the relationship between biodiversity and high-value plant chemical compounds. This study will perform an extensive survey to establish the occurrence and distribution of key tyrosine- and phenylalanine-derived metabolites in 600 species across Caryophyllales; examine the association of these tyrosine-derived metabolic traits with organismal adaptation and diversification patterns; and determine the evolutionary genetic mechanisms responsible for the biosynthesis of these metabolites. New tools will be developed to model the hierarchical nature of metabolite evolution and will be made available to the broader community of scientists. This project will comprehensively describe the extent of tyrosine-enriched metabolism in Caryophyllales, define the degree to which these metabolites are associated with organismal diversification patterns across Caryophyllales, and resolve the evolutionary assembly of the genetic pathways underlying complex tyrosine-derived metabolic traits. This award was co-funded by the Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster in the Division of Environmental Biology and the Integrative Ecological Physiology Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.