Collaborative Research: RESEARCH-PGR: Unraveling the origin of vegetative desiccation tolerance in vascular plants

合作研究：RESEARCH-PGR：揭示维管植物营养干燥耐受性的起源

• 批准号: 2243690
• 负责人: Luis Herrera-Estrella
• 金额: $ 134.23万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2243690&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RESEARCH; PGR; Unraveling

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of drought events around the world, leading to major losses in crop productivity, which affect future food security. Consequently, the generation of crops with enhanced drought tolerance represents an urgent need for breeders, scientists, and governments. Excessive water loss is lethal for most plants, but a few plants, known as resurrection plants, have the remarkable ability to survive almost complete dehydration of their green tissues. This ability, known as vegetative desiccation tolerance (VDT), relies upon a combination of molecular processes that allow the plant to maintain its viability in the dry state. Interestingly, all genes involved in VDT are also present in desiccation-susceptible plants, as most plants produce seeds that can survive for long periods in the dry state without losing the capacity to germinate upon watering. Therefore, the difference between tolerant and susceptible plants must be in their capacity to activate the mechanisms that protect cells against desiccation in green tissues and not only in the seed. The objective of this project is to identify the mechanisms of how plants evolved to activate desiccation tolerance in both vegetative and reproductive tissues. Specifically, this study seeks to identify the genes that act as master regulators of desiccation tolerance. This collaborative project will use a multidisciplinary approach to identify common and specific molecular processes by comparing the dynamic responses of green tissues and seeds. The results of this project will serve to design molecular breeding schemes for improving crop resilience to climate change.Excessive water loss is lethal for most plants, but a few species, known as resurrection plants, evolved the remarkable ability to survive almost complete dryness. This ability, known as desiccation tolerance (DT), relies upon a combination of physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses that allow the plant to preserve cell integrity in the dry state. Interestingly, all gene families involved in vegetative desiccation tolerance (VDT) are present in desiccation-sensitive plants, suggesting that this trait evolved primarily by changes in the regulatory networks coordinating the expression of DT genes rather than from the acquisition of new genes. The lack of accurate comparative analyses has hindered the identification of the regulators controlling VDT and the study of the evolutionary origin of this trait in vascular plants. Therefore, this collaborative project will determine the regulatory networks controlling VDT and infer its origin during vascular plant evolution by analyzing the DT response of key resurrection lineages using integrative methodologies. Specific objectives include (1) determining the kinetics of the global transcriptional changes in vegetative and reproductive tissues during the DT process, (2) performing kinetic analyses of the global metabolic changes in vegetative and reproductive tissues during the DT process, (3) performing in situ and single-cell type kinetic analysis of transcriptional and metabolomic changes of vegetative tissues during dehydration and recovery, and (4) conducting comparative analyses of the regulatory networks controlling DT in resurrection plants. This study will identify genetic-metabolic networks required to activate VDT, providing the basis for future crop breeding of enhanced drought tolerance.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.

气候变化正在增加世界各地干旱事件的频率和严重性，从而导致农作物生产力造成重大损失，从而影响未来的粮食安全。因此，具有增强耐旱性的农作物的产生代表了繁殖者，科学家和政府的迫切需求。对于大多数植物而言，过多的水分流失是致命的，但是几个被称为复活植物的植物具有显着的能力，可以使其绿色组织几乎完全脱水。这种能力被称为营养干燥耐受性（VDT），依赖于分子过程的结合，使植物可以在干燥状态下保持其生存能力。有趣的是，所有涉及VDT的基因也存在于对干燥敏感的植物中，因为大多数植物会产生可以长期生存在干燥状态下的种子，而不会在浇水后失去发芽的能力。因此，耐受植物和易感植物之间的差异必须具有激活保护细胞免受绿色组织干燥的机制的能力，而不仅仅是在种子中。该项目的目的是确定植物如何在营养和生殖组织中激活干燥耐受性的机制。具体而言，这项研究试图确定充当干燥耐受性的主要调节因子的基因。该协作项目将使用多学科方法来通过比较绿色组织和种子的动态反应来识别常见和特定的分子过程。该项目的结果将用于设计分子繁殖方案，以提高农作物对气候变化的韧性。对大多数植物的水分流失是致命的，但是几种被称为复活植物的物种已经发展出了显着的生存能力，几乎完全干燥。这种称为干燥耐受性（DT）的能力依赖于生理，生化和分子反应的组合，使植物能够在干燥状态下保留细胞完整性。有趣的是，所有参与营养干燥耐受性（VDT）的基因家族都存在于对敏感的植物中，这表明这种特征主要是由于调节网络的变化而不是协调DT基因的表达而不是因获得新基因的获取而演变的。缺乏准确的比较分析阻碍了控制VDT的调节器的鉴定以及对血管植物中该性状的进化起源的研究。因此，该协作项目将通过使用综合方法分析关键复活谱系的DT响应来确定控制VDT的监管网络，并在血管植物进化过程中推断其起源。 Specific objectives include (1) determining the kinetics of the global transcriptional changes in vegetative and reproductive tissues during the DT process, (2) performing kinetic analyses of the global metabolic changes in vegetative and reproductive tissues during the DT process, (3) performing in situ and single-cell type kinetic analysis of transcriptional and metabolomic changes of vegetative tissues during dehydration and recovery, and (4) conducting控制复活植物中DT的调节网络的比较分析。这项研究将确定激活VDT所需的遗传代谢网络，为未来的农作物育种增强的耐旱性繁殖提供了基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响来通过评估来获得支持。