Transforming Chemical Ecology by Enabling Measurement of Volatile Compounds in the Field

通过现场测量挥发性化合物来改变化学生态学

基本信息

批准号：
1624073
负责人：
Ian Billick
金额：
$ 27.01万
依托单位：
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2016-10-01 至 2021-09-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1624073&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Transforming Chemical Ecology Enabling Measurement

项目摘要

This project will open up the world of smell to exploration by field biologists by installing a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-Mass Spec) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). As one of the five senses, smell plays a large role in how insects and other animals interact with plants, including whether a plant is pollinated or eaten. Because one-third of the calories that humans eat come from plants that are pollinated by animals, a basic understanding of pollination is important to food security. More broadly, smell, for reasons related to immune systems, affects how animals recognize relatives, choose mates, remember events and attach emotional value to them. Recent breakthroughs allow the use of a GC-Mass Spec to detect very small amounts of chemicals emitted into the air. Currently deployed equipment has primarily been confined to artificial, laboratory settings. This project will provide students and scientists from across the United States an opportunity to study the role of chemicals in mediating the relationships between plants and animals in a natural, field setting. Specific research projects will include exploring how the simultaneous pressures of avoiding being eaten while attracting pollinators affect the evolution of plants, the manner in which chemicals affect where insects eat plants, as well as shed light into the evolutionary pathways by which insects began to use plants as food. RMBL will provide training to scientists and students on how to use the equipment, reaching diverse cultural groups through our education programs, which have a high minority participation rate.This project will install a state-of-the-art Shimadzu Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) 2010 Ultra, with both thermal desorption and conventional solvent-desorption injection ports, at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Taking advantage of recent technological improvements, this equipment will allow the identification of volatile chemicals emitted by plants in an ecological context. This project will provide the first such instrument to users at a major research field station in the US and will enhance scientific infrastructure by improving access to instrumentation on a cost effective basis. In addition to supporting research by scores of scientists from around the world, Co-PI's Diane Campbell (UC-Irvine) and Robert Raguso (Cornell) will incorporate floral volatiles (e.g., indole and á-pinene) into studies of how interactions with pollinators and seed predators influence natural selection on floral trait combinations. Emily Mooney (Univ. of CO, Colorado Springs) and Kailen Mooney (UC-Irvine) will build upon past and ongoing studies of the interactions between the herbaceous host plant Ligusticum porteri, the aphid Aphis helianthi, its locally dominant insect herbivore, and the predators and ants that attack and protect the aphid, respectively. As part of his work on the evolutionary genomic architecture underlying herbivory, Noah Whiteman (UC-Berkeley) will identify volatiles from Cardamine cordifolia in order to design experiments to expose Scaptomyza nigrita flies to active compounds in behavior trials. Additionally, RMBL will offer training in chemical analysis, including a one-week course for novices and a course for those who have experience with GC-MS but not the particular model machine. We will integrate the equipment in training of a diverse scientific workforce. More than 38% of participants in our Research Experience for Undergraduate program are minorities. We anticipate that some of these students will learn to analyze chromatograms, extending their skill sets beyond biology and thereby enhancing future career opportunities. More information about the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory can be found at rmbl.org.

该项目将通过在落基山山生物实验室（RMBL）安装气相色谱质量光谱仪（GC-MASS Spec）来为现场生物学家探索的嗅觉世界。作为五种感觉之一，气味在昆虫和其他动物与植物相互作用的方式中起着很大的作用，包括植物是授粉还是食用。由于人类食用的卡路里中有三分之一来自由动物授粉的植物，因此对授粉的基本了解对粮食安全很重要。更广泛的是，出于与免疫系统有关的原因，气味会影响动物识别亲戚，选择伴侣，记住事件并将情感价值带到其上。最近的突破允许使用GC质量规格来检测空气中发出的非常少量的化学物质。目前部署的设备主要仅限于人工实验室环境。该项目将为来自美国各地的学生和科学家提供一个机会，以研究化学物质在自然野外环境中介导动植物之间关系中的作用。特定的研究项目将包括探索在吸引传粉媒介同时避免进食的同时压力会影响植物的进化，化学物质影响昆虫食用植物的方式，以及向进化途径散发出隔热途径，从而使绝缘材料开始使用植物作为食物。 RMBL将为科学家和学生提供有关如何使用设备，通过我们的教育计划吸引大型文化团体的培训，该计划具有少数群体的参与率。该项目将安装最先进的Shimadzu气体色谱仪质量质谱仪（GC-MS）2010 Ultra，并具有热吸收和传统的溶剂溶解溶解性溶解度和传统的山地山山山山（Rocky Mountonic sountical of Mounton Sountonal），在Rocky sounty and ocky sountic sountical sountic sountic sountic sountic sountic sountical sountic山上，利用最近的技术改进，该设备将允许在生态环境中识别植物发出的挥发性化学物质。该项目将为美国主要研究现场站的用户提供第一个此类工具，并通过以成本效益的基础来改善仪器的访问来增强科学基础设施。除了获得来自世界各地的科学家的支持外，Co-Pi的Diane Campbell（UC-Irvine）和Robert Raguso（Cornell）还将融入花卉挥发物（例如吲哚和Pineene）中，以研究与授粉媒介和种子捕食者相互作用如何影响花卉捕食者对花卉捕食者的相互作用。 Emily Mooney（Co，Colorado Springs Univ）和Kailen Mooney（UC-Irvine）将基于过去和正在进行的研究草本植物宿主植物植物菌Porteri，蚜虫蚜虫Helianthi的相互作用，其本地主导的绝缘绝缘剂，以及捕食者和捕食者和捕食和保护和保护aphids的捕食者。作为他在食草动物基础的进化基因组建筑方面的一部分，诺亚·惠特曼（UC-Berkeley）将识别出来自豆蔻山山dardimine山脉的挥发物，以设计实验以暴露于行为试验中的Scaptomyza nigirita Flies to scaptomyza nigirita果蝇。此外，RMBL还将提供化学分析的培训，包括针对小说的一周课程，以及那些有GC-MS但没有特定型号机器的人的课程。我们将将设备整合为培训多样的科学劳动力队伍。我们的本科课程研究经验中有超过38％的参与者是少数群体。我们预计，其中一些学生将学会分析色谱法，将其技能扩展到生物学之外，从而增强未来的职业机会。有关落基山生物实验室的更多信息，请访问rmbl.org。