TRTech-PGR: A mass spectrometric-based interdisciplinary approach to deciphering the molecular dialogue between between crop plants and their microbial friends and foes.

在土壤中，作物根系与细菌和真菌相互作用，细菌和真菌在农业中起着相互联系的基本作用，这一过程被称为“共生”，植物和微生物相互提供必需的营养物质。土壤微生物和作物根系之间的这种相互依赖关系为植物提供了氮和磷等重要元素。没有这些微生物，农民必须使用肥料来满足植物对养分的需求。化肥的使用不仅在经济上昂贵，而且对环境有害，因为农田的径流会导致国家水道的过度施肥。反过来，这又导致了有害生物的灾难性过度生长，以及鱼类和其他生活在河流、湖泊和海洋中的生物等有益生物的大量死亡。在这个项目中，土壤微生物用来告诉植物它们是朋友而不是敌人的基本化学信号将在分子水平上进行分析，这样它们就可以和谐地生活而不是互相争斗。此外，在本项目中，植物中特异性识别这些信号的蛋白质将在分子水平上进行表征。总的来说，这些信号代表了土壤中的化学“互联网”，使植物和微生物能够在现代农业中发挥关键作用。该项目将提供一种潜在的战略，以提高粮食产量，养活不断增长的人口，同时减少有害的财政和环境成本。此外，该团队将继续在威斯康星大学提供关于使用质谱和蛋白质组学的先进方法的年度课程。质谱仪在现代研究以及健康和法医行业中发挥着重要作用。例如，火星上有一台质谱仪寻找生命的迹象，机场有一台质谱仪在我们的包里和身体里寻找与恐怖主义有关的化学物质，医院里有质谱仪分析我们血液和身体分泌物中药物的存在和代谢。尽管它们很重要，但大多数非专业公民和现代研究科学家对这些仪器能做什么以及为什么能做知之甚少。这个更新项目致力于开发和应用最先进的质谱技术来描述与识别共生微生物及其宿主作物植物有关的早期分子事件。该项目还将帮助一般植物群落了解和使用基于质谱的代谢组和蛋白质组分析，这些代谢组和蛋白质组与植物识别和响应微生物的能力有关。最后，通过延续以前在威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校由PGRP NSF资助建立的年度夏季质谱研讨会，这个更新项目将能够确保正在开发的基于质谱的技术将被提供，并置于研究界的生物学家手中，这些生物学家在美国各地的植物和微生物实验室。该奖项由植物基因组研究计划和植物生物相互作用计划共同资助，该计划隶属于综合生物系统部门。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。

In soil, the roots of crop plants interact with bacteria and fungi that play interconnected, fundamental roles in agriculture in a process known as ‘symbiosis’ whereby the plants and microbes feed each other with essential nutrients. This interdependent relationship of soil microbes and crop roots provides important elements such as nitrogen and phosphorous to the plant. Without these microbes, farmers must use fertilizers to satisfy the plant’s need for nutrients. Fertilizer use is both financially expensive and environmentally deleterious because the runoff from agricultural fields causes overfertilization of the nation’s waterways. This, in turn, results in disastrous overgrowth of unwanted organisms and large die-offs of desirable organisms like fish and other creatures living in rivers, lakes and oceans. In this project, the essential chemical signals that soil microbes use to tell a plant that they are friends, not foes, so they can live in harmony rather than at war, will be analyzed at a molecular level. In addition, during this project, the proteins in the plant that specifically recognize these signals will be characterized at the molecular level. In general, these signals represent a chemical ‘internet’ in the soil that allows plants and microbes to satisfy their critical roles in modern agriculture. This project will provide a potential strategy for increasing crop productivity needed to nourish a growing population, while decreasing the deleterious financial and environmental costs. In addition, the team will continue to provide an annual course at the University of Wisconsin on advanced methods in the use of mass spectrometry and proteomics.Mass spectrometers play a fundamental role in modern research, as well as in the health and forensics industry. For example, there is a mass spectrometer on Mars looking for signs of life, there is one at the airport that looks for terrorism-related chemicals in our bags and body, and there are mass spectrometers in our hospitals that analyze the presence and metabolism of drugs in our blood and bodily secretions. Despite their importance, most lay citizens and modern research scientists have a poor understanding of what these instruments can do and why. This renewal project is devoted to developing and applying state-of-the-art mass spectrometric technologies to profile early molecular events involved in the recognition of symbiotic microbes with their host crop plants. This project will also assist the general plant community with understanding and using mass spectrometric based analyses of metabolomes and proteomes involved in the plant's ability to recognize and respond to microbes. Finally, via continuation of the annual summer Mass Spectrometry Workshop previously established with prior PGRP NSF funding at UW-Madison, this renewal project will be able to ensure that the mass spectrometric-based technologies being developed will be made available and placed in the hands of the research community's biologists in plant and microbial laboratories throughout the USA.This award was co-funded by the Plant Genome Research Program and the Plant Biotic Interactions 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.