CAREER:Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Treated Wastewater Impact Plant-Associated Microbes and Plant Stress Responses

拟议的研究将调查新兴关注的化学物质（CECs）如何影响大豆与土壤细菌的关系，从而影响大豆产量。大豆是美国的主要作物，每年产生超过460亿美元的农业收入。大豆是一种受欢迎的轮作作物，因为它们通过与一种土壤细菌——缓生根瘤菌的共生关系来增加土壤氮。种植大豆减少了化肥的施用，而不影响与大豆轮作的粮食作物的产量。了解CECs对直接影响产量的因素的影响，如大豆-慢生根瘤菌相互作用的建立、结瘤和植物生长，将为水区和种植者决定再生废水的质量提供信息，以确保可持续的农业生产力。拟议的研究还将为通过加州大学河滨科学与工程研究项目（RISE）招募的未被充分代表的少数民族（URM）学生提供指导研究经验和培训。为期10周的夏季研究模块旨在教授学生植物与微生物的相互作用，并为他们提供工作所需的实验室经验。将从该组中招募一名URM本科生加入PI的实验室，担任带薪学生助理，并帮助培训明年的暑期研究培训学生。在与“科学技术的成功：与榜样（姐妹）的参与”项目的合作下，加州河滨市大学高地中学的女孩和教师将获得关于植物与微生物相互作用的好处以及CECs如何破坏它们的实践培训。尽管有大量证据表明，新兴关注化学品（CECs）会改变微生物多样性，但关于CECs对植物-微生物相互作用的影响的研究是缺乏的，而这些相互作用对植物健康和生产力至关重要。本研究将首次利用大豆-慢生根瘤菌相互作用来展示CECs对具有重大经济价值的共生相互作用的影响。利用在南加州经常发现的四种CECs， PI将研究CECs如何影响大豆根瘤、根和根际微生物群。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。

The proposed study will investigate how chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) affect soybean associations with soil bacteria and consequently soybean yield. Soybeans are a major crop in the USA, generating more than $46 billion annual farm revenue. Soybeans are a popular rotation crop because they increase soil nitrogen through a mutualistic relationship with Bradyrhizobium, a genus of soil bacteria. Planting soybeans reduces chemical fertilizers application without compromising the yield of grain crops planted in rotation with soybeans. Understanding the effects of CECs on factors that directly impact yield, such as establishment of the soybean-Bradyrhizobium interaction, nodulation, and plant growth, will inform recycled wastewater quality decisions by water districts and growers in efforts to ensure sustainable agricultural productivity. The proposed research will also provide mentored research experience and training for underrepresented minority (URM) students recruited through the University of California - Riverside Research In Science and Engineering [RISE] Program. The 10-week summer research module is designed to teach the students about plant-microbe interactions and provide them with lab experience needed in the workforce. One undergraduate URM students will be recruited from this group to join the PI’s lab as paid student assistants and to help in training the next year's Summer Research Training students. In collaboration with the Success in Science and Technology: Engagement with Role-Models (SISTERS) program, URM girls and teachers from University Heights Middle School, in Riverside CA, will get hands-on training on the benefits of plant-microbe interactions and on how CECs can disrupt them. Despite overwhelming evidence that chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) alter microbial diversity, research regarding the impacts of CECs on plant-microbe interactions that are critical to plant health and productivity is lacking. For the first time, the proposed study will show the impacts of CECs on symbiotic interactions of great economic value using the soybean-Bradyrhizobium interaction. Using four CECs that are frequently found in southern Califormia the PI will investigate how CECs affect the soybean nodule, root and rhizosphere microbiome.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.