PlantSynBio: Optimized CAM Engineering for Improving Water-use Efficiency in Plants

PlantSynBio：优化 CAM 工程，提高植物用水效率

• 批准号: 2042253
• 负责人: John Cushman
• 金额: $ 155.79万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-04-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2042253&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PlantSynBio; Optimized; CAM; Engineering; Improving

Crassulacean acid metabolism and tissue succulence are metabolic and anatomical adaptations that improve water-use efficiency and drought (and salinity) stress tolerance in plants. These traits are among the most widespread and successful adaptations in the plant kingdom for mitigating drought stress, and thus, represent highly useful traits for the design of climate-resilient crops. The goal of this project is to test optimized synthetic versions of crassulacean acid metabolism alone and in combination with engineered tissue succulence. The proposed synthetic gene circuits developed by this project can be applied widely to other food, feed, fiber, and biofuel crops to improve their productivity, improve water-use efficiency, and drought/salinity stress tolerance under the hotter and drier environments of the future. The project will also provide training of an increasingly diverse scientific workforce through student recruitment efforts that target students from historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In addition, the project will provide training and preparedness of future scientists in evidence-based, visually focused, scientific communication through unique training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars in plant biochemistry, synthetic biology, and biotechnology blended with infographics, interactive visualizations, and visual social media. The investigators will increase public awareness of the need for more climate-resilient crops through the production of two high-quality videos describing the project deliverables to showcase the societal benefit of these biotechnological innovations. Lastly, the training and outreach activities will be evaluated through robust assessment activities to appraise their impact on public science outreach.Future increases in drought severity and duration will significantly slow the rate of crop productivity increases needed to satisfy future projected crop demands and threaten global food security. Therefore, innovative synthetic biology approaches for curtailing photorespiration and improving water-use efficiency via the introduction of synthetic crassulacean acid metabolism into C3 photosynthesis crops are essential. The proposed research will generate optimized synthetic carboxylation, decarboxylation, starch degradation, and complete crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits. The resulting plants will be evaluated for improved growth, productivity, water-use efficiency, and water-deficit and salinity tolerance. In addition, plants expressing optimized crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits will be evaluated with and without engineered tissue succulence in Arabidopsis and soybean, a critically important C3 photosynthesis crop for the U.S.. Empirical testing will be accompanied by detailed, genome-scale transcriptomic and metabolome profiling and diel flux balance analysis modeling to corroborate energetic efficiency predictions for each iteration of the synthetic crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits. The broader impacts of the project include improving national food, feed, fiber, and biofuel security by enhancing crop productivity, water-use efficiency, and drought/salinity tolerance in a changing environment. Outreach and training goals include ensuring the training of an increasingly diverse scientific workforce through recruitment of underrepresented students, providing training and preparedness of future scientists in scientific communication, increasing public awareness of the need to improve the climate-resiliency of crops using videos describing the concepts of synthetic CAM and engineered tissue succulence, and assessing training, outreach and engagement activities for didactic and societal impacts.This award was co-funded by the Plant Genome Research Program and the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics 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.

碎屑酸性代谢和组织成功是代谢和解剖适应，可提高植物中饮水效率和干旱（和盐度）胁迫的耐受性。这些特征是减轻干旱压力的植物王国中最广泛和成功的适应，因此代表了设计气候富农作物的非常有用的特征。该项目的目的是仅单独测试碎屑酸代谢的优化合成版本，并与工程组织的多肉座结合使用。该项目开发的拟议的合成基因回路可以广泛应用于其他食物，饲料，纤维和生物燃料作物，以提高其生产率，提高水利用效率以及在未来较热和更干燥的环境下的干旱/盐度胁迫耐受性。该项目还将通过学生招聘工作来培训越来越多样化的科学劳动力队伍，这些工作针对历史上代表性不足的科学，技术，工程和数学的学生。此外，该项目将通过针对本科生和研究生的独特培训机会以及植物生物化学，合成生物学和生物技术的独特培训机会在基于证据的，视觉上的科学沟通中提供培训和准备，并提供培训和准备。调查人员将通过制作两个高质量的视频来提高公众对对更多气候富农作物的需求的认识，这些视频描述了该项目可交付成果，以展示这些生物技术创新的社会利益。最后，培训和外展活动将通过强大的评估活动进行评估，以评估其对公共科学外展的影响。未来的干旱严重程度和持续时间增加将大大减缓满足未来预计的作物需求并威胁全球粮食安全所需的农作物生产率率。因此，通过将合成的碎屑粉代谢将光吸收和提高水利用效率提高的创新合成生物学方法是必不可少的。拟议的研究将产生优化的合成羧化，脱羧，淀粉降解和完整的crassulacean酸代谢基因基因回路。将评估所得的植物，以提高生长，生产力，水利用效率以及缺乏水和盐度耐受性。 In addition, plants expressing optimized crassulacean acid metabolism gene circuits will be evaluated with and without engineered tissue succulence in Arabidopsis and soybean, a critically important C3 photosynthesis crop for the U.S.. Empirical testing will be accompanied by detailed, genome-scale transcriptomic and metabolome profiling and diel flux balance analysis modeling to corroborate energetic efficiency predictions for each合成碎屑粉酸代谢基因回路的迭代。该项目的广泛影响包括在不断变化的环境中提高农作物生产力，水利用效率以及干旱/盐分耐受性来改善国家食品，饲料，纤维和生物燃料安全。宣传和培训目标包括通过招募代表性不足的学生来确保对日益多样化的科学劳动力进行培训，从而在科学沟通中提供培训和未来科学家的培训和准备，从而提高公众对使用综合摄像头和培训的概念来提高农作物的气候及时的意识，以提高农作物的气候 - 培训，并培训培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并进行了培训，并互动。由植物基因组研究计划和生理机制和生物力学计划共同资助，该计划反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的评估评估来支持的。