NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Correlating Maize Metabolic and Phenotypic Responses to Heat Stress ...

本行动资助2021财年美国国家科学基金会植物基因组生物学博士后研究奖学金。该奖学金支持奖学金获得者在主办实验室的研究和培训计划，该奖学金获得者还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。凯瑟琳·墨菲的研究和培训计划的标题是“将玉米对热胁迫的代谢和表型反应联系起来，以从机制上理解植物的温度胁迫耐受性”。该奖学金的主办机构是唐纳德·丹福斯植物科学中心，赞助科学家是马莉娅·格汉博士和道格·艾伦博士。玉米，也被称为玉米，是美国最重要的作物，对世界各地的饮食有重要贡献。随着全球气温上升并变得更加不稳定，我们必须拥有能够在不太理想的条件下生长的作物，以养活不断增长的全球人口。高温尤其会影响植物的生长能力，降低作物产量。在这个项目中，研究人员将更好地了解高温下植物发生的基本过程。为此，他们将研究玉米中的分子，以及它们在高温下生长过程中的变化，以及利用植物图像（即高通量表型）研究整个植物生长的变化。他们将比较在高温下生长良好或较差的玉米品种。这将为未来下一代作物的育种和工程设计提供基础知识，尤其是玉米。本项目还将为研究人员提供博士后培训，使其成为农业领域的领军人物。一个相关的外展项目将从这个项目中获取数据，作为密苏里州圣路易斯社区大学学生的课程模块，以获得宝贵的研究经验。玉米作为一种模式植物和重要作物，具有丰富的遗传资源和作物改良的机遇。面对人口增长和气候变暖，为了保持和提高作物产量，了解玉米对热胁迫的基本反应至关重要。然而，玉米热胁迫反应的细胞水平分子机制，以及重要的是一些玉米品系如何更能适应热胁迫，人们知之甚少。该项目的目的是确定：哪些代谢物及其通量受到热胁迫的影响，以及这些代谢标志如何与全植物热胁迫表型相关？首先，我们将利用碳同位素标记和高通量表型分析热胁迫条件下短世代和矮小的玉米模型系Mini maize。这将解决热应激是通过光收集、光合作用、分子分流、小分子抗氧化剂和可能的光呼吸的潜在变化来实现和减轻的假设。将这些数据与整个植物表型（如生物量和叶片损伤）相结合，将为大规模热损伤提供代谢标志。接下来，这项研究将在这些技术的基础上扩展到研究以前被认为是耐热和易受热胁迫的玉米品种。这将提供热胁迫耐受性的代谢标记，并提供植物抗逆性的机制洞察，例如通过假设的小分子抗氧化剂通量的增加。该项目将为植物育种和培育抗逆性作物的工程工作提供重要基础。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。

This action funds an NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021. 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 Katherine Murphy is "Correlating Maize Metabolic and Phenotypic Responses to Heat Stress for a Mechanistic Understanding of Plant Temperature Stress Tolerance". The host institution for the fellowship is the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the sponsoring scientists are Dr. Malia Gehan and Dr. Doug Allen.Maize, also known as corn, is the most important crop in the USA, and contributes significantly to diets world-wide. As global temperatures rise and become more erratic, it is essential that we have crops that can grow under less-than-ideal conditions in order to feed a growing global population. High temperatures, in particular, affects plants’ ability to grow and reduces crop yields. In this project, the investigators will better understand the fundamental processes occurring in plants under high temperatures. To do so, they will investigate the molecules in corn and how they change over the course of growth at high temperatures, as well as how the whole-plant growth changes using plant images, known as high-throughput phenotyping. They will compare corn varieties that grow well or poorly under high temperatures. This will provide foundational knowledge for breeding and engineering next-generation crops of the future, especially corn. This project will also provide training to the investigator as a postdoctoral associate to develop her into a leader in agriculture. An associated outreach project will take data from this project for a course module for community college students in St. Louis, MO, to gain a valuable research experience. As both a model plant species and important crop, maize (Zea mays) represents a wealth of genetic resources and opportunities for crop improvement. In the face of a growing population and a warming climate, it is essential to understand the fundamental maize response to heat stress in order to maintain and increase crop yields. However, the cellular-level molecular mechanisms underlying the maize heat stress response, and importantly how some maize lines are more resilient to heat stress, are poorly understood. The objective of this project is to determine: What metabolites and their flux are affected by heat stress, and how do these metabolic hallmarks correlate to whole-plant heat stress phenotypes? First, a model maize line of short generation time and stature, Mini Maize, will be analyzed under heat stress conditions using carbon isotope labeling and high-throughput phenotyping. This will address hypotheses that heat stress is realized and mitigated through potential changes in light harvesting, photosynthesis, molecular shunts, small molecule antioxidants, and possibly photorespiration. Coupling this data to whole-plant phenotype, such as biomass and leaf damage, will provide metabolic hallmarks for large-scale heat damage. Next, this research will expand upon these techniques to investigate maize varieties previously characterized as tolerant and susceptible to heat stress. This will provide metabolic markers for heat stress tolerance, as well as provide mechanistic insight into plant stress resilience, such as through a hypothesized increase in flux to small molecule antioxidants. This project will provide important foundations for informing plant breeding and engineering efforts towards resilient crops.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.