NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Phospholipid metabolism adaptations in Zea mays under low temperature and low nutrients

该行动资助了2020财年NSF国家植物基因组计划生物学博士后研究奖学金。该研究金支持研究员在东道实验室的研究和培训计划，研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。Allison巴恩斯博士的研究和培训计划的标题是“低温低营养条件下玉米磷脂代谢的适应性”。该研究金的主办机构是北卡罗来纳州州立大学，赞助科学家是Rubén Rellán-Álvarez博士。随着气候变化，作物必须适应更多和不同的环境压力。通过了解作物如何适应与驯化和迁移相关的变化和压力，可以确定负责胁迫耐受性的基因。这方面的一个例子是玉米。它在墨西哥的山谷中被驯化，但后来被转移到高地，不得不适应较低的温度和营养丰富的土壤。在压力时期，细胞膜的修饰对生存至关重要。因此，该项目的一个具体目标是合成细胞膜的构建模块，脂质生物合成。这里资助的研究将促进用于分析或修改膜脂质生物合成的方法的培训。这些结果将推动植物生物学领域的发展，特别是在了解脂质如何应对压力方面。它们可以应用于植物生物技术和种子玉米产业，通过识别可以被修改的基因来设计更耐胁迫的作物以提高产量。这项工作的资源将转化为基本的实验，并通过与威克县4-H志愿服务传播。了解磷脂代谢在玉米适应非生物胁迫如寒冷和缺磷中的作用将是该项目的主要目标之一。经过驯化，玉米从炎热的热带环境迁移到寒冷和缺磷的高原环境。结果发现，磷脂代谢，特别是参与磷脂的合成和降解的基因，正在高原玉米中进行选择。在本项目中，将利用玉米突变体和酵母中的异源表达系统对所涉及的一些候选基因进行功能表征。最后，将探讨这些基因的高原等位基因对温带玉米适应北美和欧洲寒冷环境的可能贡献。短期内，这项研究将加深对脂质代谢及其在当地适应中的作用的理解，推进NPGI的目标，即开发有助于可持续系统精确植物育种目标的工具。从长远来看，这个表征平台可以被翻译并应用于对植物适应非生物胁迫非常重要的其他代谢基因。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Dr. Allison Barnes is “Phospholipid metabolism adaptations in Zea mays under low temperature and low nutrients.” The host institution for the fellowship is North Carolina State University and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Rubén Rellán-Álvarez.As climate changes, crops must adjust to more and different environmental stresses. By understanding how crops adapted to the changes and stresses associated with domestication and migration, genes responsible for stress tolerance can be identified. One example of this is maize. It was domesticated in the valleys of Mexico, but was later moved to the highlands and had to become tolerant to the stresses of lower temperatures and less nutrient-rich soil. During times of stress, modification of cell membranes is crucial for survival. Thus, a specific target for this project is the synthesis of the building blocks of cell membranes, lipid biosynthesis. The research funded here will facilitate training in methods used to analyze or modify membrane lipid biosynthesis. The results will advance the field of plant biology, specifically in understanding how lipids respond to stress. They can be applied to the plant biotechnology and seed corn industry by identifying genes that can be modified to engineer more stress-tolerant crops to improve yield. Resources from this work will be turned into basic experiments and disseminated through volunteering with Wake County 4-H. Understanding the role of phospholipid metabolism in maize adaptations to abiotic stresses such as cold and phosphorus deficiency will be one of the primary goals for the project. After domestication, maize migrated from a hot, tropical environment to a cold and phosphorus-deficient highland environment. It was found that phospholipid metabolism and, in particular, genes involved in the synthesis and degradation of phospholipids, are under selection in highland maize. In this project, some of the candidate genes involved will be functionally characterize, using maize mutants and heterologous expression systems in yeast. Finally, the possible contribution of highland alleles of these genes to temperate maize adaptation to cold environments in North America and Europe will be explored. Short-term, this research will deepen understanding of lipid metabolism and its role in local adaptation, advancing the NPGI goal of developing tools that aid in precision plant breeding targets for sustainable systems. Long-term, this characterization platform can be translated and applied to other metabolism genes that are important for plant adaptation to abiotic stress.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.