MRI/RUI: Aquisition of Controlled Environment Chambers for Enhanced Research in the Plant Biology Program at Hope College

MRI/RUI：购买受控环境室以加强希望学院植物生物学项目的研究

• 批准号: 0319938
• 负责人: Thomas Bultman
• 金额: $ 15.41万
• 依托单位: Hope College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-10-15 至 2006-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0319938&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; RUI; Aquisition; Controlled; Environment

A grant has been awarded to Hope College under the direction of Dr. Thomas Bultman for the acquisition of four controlled environment plant growth chambers, which, along with recent faculty hires, will considerably strengthen and extend the research and teaching program in the plant sciences at Hope College. Ongoing and predicted global climatic changes make plant ecology a particularly critical subfield of biology and therefore one to which undergraduates need exposure. The chambers will allow replicated, multi-factorial experiments of sufficient sample size for statistical validity. Chambers will be computer networked to allow integrated control from local or remote sites. The controlled environment chambers will be used to foster faculty-student collaborative research on impacts of global climatic change on plant-fungus and plant-fungus-insect interactions and on tree seedlings from neotropical cloud forests. Dr. Bultman and students will test if enhanced CO2 and drought interact with other environmental variables to influence an endophytic fungus/grass mutualism. Utilizing the controlled environment chambers, experiments will be conducted to the evaluate shoot and root mass response to variation in endophyte infection, CO2 level, defoliation, drought and fungal genotype. Dr. Swarthout and students will determine the response of endophytically-infected grass to elevated CO2 and temperature through enhanced levels of carboxylating enzymes. They will explore this response under a range of conditions in which nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and water availability become limiting. Members of Dr. Bultman's laboratory will also test the insect response to variation in endophyte infection, CO2 level, plant damage, drought and fungal genotype using the controlled environment growth chambers. In like manner, they will also determine the response by natural enemies of herbivores to variation of endophyte infection, CO2 level, and fungal genotype. Dr. Murray and students will seek to uncover physiological explanations for alterations in elevational distributions of tree seedlings within the cloud forests at Monteverde, Costa Rica. The broader significance of the award is that undergraduate students in both research and classroom settings will gain important training in assessing primary and interaction effects using appropriate statistical procedures. Ability to precisely control light duration, light intensity, temperature, humidity and CO2 will greatly expand faculty and student research opportunties at Hope College. These opportunities are critical in the development of students as scientists and help to ensure students pursue careers in science.

在 Thomas Bultman 博士的指导下，霍普学院获得了一笔赠款，用于购买四个受控环境植物生长室，加上最近聘用的教师，将大大加强和扩展该学院在植物科学方面的研究和教学项目。希望学院。 持续和预测的全球气候变化使植物生态学成为生物学特别重要的子领域，因此是本科生需要接触的领域。 这些室将允许进行具有足够样本量的重复、多因素实验，以保证统计有效性。 房间将通过计算机联网，以便从本地或远程站点进行集成控制。 受控环境室将用于促进师生合作研究全球气候变化对植物-真菌、植物-真菌-昆虫相互作用以及对新热带云雾林树苗的影响。 布尔特曼博士和学生将测试二氧化碳浓度增加和干旱是否与其他环境变量相互作用，从而影响内生真菌/草的互利共生。 利用受控环境室，将进行实验来评估芽和根群对内生菌感染、二氧化碳水平、落叶、干旱和真菌基因型变化的反应。 斯沃索特博士和学生将通过提高羧化酶水平来确定内生感染草对升高的二氧化碳和温度的反应。 他们将在营养物质（氮和磷）和水的可用性受到限制的一系列条件下探索这种反应。 布尔特曼博士实验室的成员还将使用受控环境生长室测试昆虫对内生菌感染、二氧化碳水平、植物损害、干旱和真菌基因型变化的反应。 同样，他们还将确定食草动物的天敌对内生菌感染、二氧化碳水平和真菌基因型变化的反应。 默里博士和学生们将寻求揭示哥斯达黎加蒙特维德云林内树苗海拔分布变化的生理学解释。 该奖项更广泛的意义在于，研究和课堂环境中的本科生将获得使用适当的统计程序评估主要效应和相互作用效应的重要培训。 精确控制光照持续时间、光照强度、温度、湿度和二氧化碳的能力将极大地扩大希望学院教师和学生的研究机会。 这些机会对于学生成为科学家的发展至关重要，有助于确保学生从事科学事业。