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.

景天类的酸代谢和组织肉质是代谢和解剖适应，可提高植物的水分利用效率和干旱（和盐度）胁迫耐受性。这些性状是植物界中最广泛、最成功的缓解干旱胁迫的适应措施之一，因此对于设计气候适应型作物来说是非常有用的性状。该项目的目标是单独测试景天酸代谢的优化合成版本以及与工程组织肉质的结合。该项目开发的合成基因电路可广泛应用于其他粮食、饲料、纤维和生物燃料作物，以提高其生产力，提高水利用效率，以及在未来更热和更干燥的环境下的干旱/盐胁迫耐受性。该项目还将通过招生工作，针对来自历史上在科学、技术、工程和数学领域代表性不足的群体的学生，为日益多元化的科学劳动力提供培训。此外，该项目还将通过为植物生物化学、合成生物学和生物技术领域的本科生和研究生以及博士后学者提供独特的培训机会，为未来的科学家提供基于证据、以视觉为中心的科学传播方面的培训和准备，并与信息图表、互动技术相结合。可视化和视觉社交媒体。研究人员将通过制作两个描述项目成果的高质量视频来提高公众对需要更具气候适应性的作物的认识，以展示这些生物技术创新的社会效益。最后，培训和推广活动将通过强有力的评估活动进行评估，以评估其对公共科学推广的影响。未来干旱严重程度和持续时间的增加将大大减缓满足未来预计作物需求所需的作物生产力增长速度，并威胁全球粮食安全。因此，通过将合成景天酸代谢引入 C3 光合作用作物来减少光呼吸和提高水分利用效率的创新合成生物学方法至关重要。拟议的研究将产生优化的合成羧化、脱羧、淀粉降解和完整的景天酸代谢基因回路。将对所得植物的生长、生产力、水分利用效率以及缺水和盐度耐受性进行评估。此外，将在拟南芥和大豆（对美国至关重要的 C3 光合作用作物）的情况下，对表达优化的景天酸代谢基因电路的植物进行评估，无论其是否具有工程组织肉质。经验测试将伴随着详细的基因组规模转录组和代谢组分析。昼夜通量平衡分析模型，以证实合成景天酸代谢基因回路每次迭代的能量效率预测。该项目的更广泛影响包括通过提高不断变化的环境中的作物生产力、用水效率和干旱/盐分耐受性来改善国家粮食、饲料、纤维和生物燃料安全。外展和培训目标包括通过招募代表性不足的学生来确保培训日益多样化的科学劳动力，为未来科学家提供科学传播方面的培训和准备，通过描述概念的视频提高公众对提高作物气候适应能力的必要性的认识合成 CAM 和工程组织肉质的研究，并评估培训、外展和参与活动的教学和社会影响。该奖项由植物基因组研究计划和生理机制和综合有机系统部门的生物力学计划。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。