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Collaborative Research: 

Stress Combination: A new field in molecular stress research

PIs: Eduardo Blumwald, UCD (eblumwald@ucdavis.edu); Karen Schlauch, UNR (schlauch@unr.edu); Ron Mittler, UNT (ron.mittler@unt.edu); Vladimir Shulaev, UNT (vladimir.shulaev@unt.edu)

Project Summary:

Scientific Objectives and Approaches:

The proposed research is designed to make significant contributions to the goals of the 2010 program - to understand the networking and function of every gene in Arabidopsis. The specific focus of the proposal is on stress combination and the networks that respond to stress combination, such as drought and heat, drought and salinity and salinity and heat. Abiotic stress is the primary cause of crop loss world-wide, with losses in the US estimated at 14-19 billion dollars each year. While abiotic stress is routinely studied in Arabidopsis by applying a single stress condition such as drought, salinity or heat, this type of analysis does not reflect the conditions that occur in the field in which crop plants are subjected to a combination of different stresses. Moreover, our analysis shows that the response of plants to a combination of two different stresses is unique and cannot be directly extrapolated from the response of plants to each of the different stresses applied individually. A combination of drought and heat, for example, results in the unique expression of 772 transcripts, not responsive to drought or heat. The proposed research has two core objectives: 1) Use a systems biology approach to identify novel genes, gene networks and pathways that specifically respond to a combination of two different abiotic stresses. The hypothesis to be tested is that dedicated genes, networks and pathways are activated in plants simultaneously exposed to two different stress conditions. 2) Stress-test > 1,000 plant lines harboring disruptions in genes and pathways that specifically respond to different stress combinations. The project will identify and functionally characterize Arabidopsis genes and pathways that are specific for a combination of two different stresses. It is proposed that to understand the function of the ~28,000 genes in Arabidopsis, the community needs to establish coordinated "Centers of Expertise". This project is design to bring Arabidopsis into the front line of applied research on abiotic stress tolerance, and bridge the gap between theoretical stress studies conducted with Arabidopsis in the lab and the real conditions that impact crops in the field.

Broader Impacts:

The two key "Broader Impacts" of the proposed research are: 1) Development and maintenance of a centralized website that will bring together agronomists, breeders and Arabidopsis molecular biologists. The goal of the site will be to share information and resources between different groups of researchers and to generate an open forum that will enable scientists to learn more about each other, about each other’s goals and needs, and about the different research projects underway in each of the different disciplines. In addition to serving as a bridge between different disciplines, the site will track and disseminate information on genes, proteins, pathways, metabolites, and homozygous T-DNA insertion lines, specific for particular stresses, as well as their combination. 2) Educational outreach for K-12 and multidisciplinary training to postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduates trainees. Undergraduate students will experience science as a tool of discovery through participation in mentoring programs. They will be trained in different aspects of systems biology and bioinformatics analysis. A summer outreach workshop will teach high school students about molecular biology in Arabidopsis, modern agriculture, the environment, and human health. This laboratory-based internship program will provide self-confidence building experiences and expose the students to laboratories and scientists. Both undergraduate and K-12 outreach and training activities will target the under privileged and underrepresented in science.  Historically, abiotic stress combinations, such as drought and heat, had the outmost devastating economical and sociological impacts on the US, with losses of 48.4 and 61.6 billion dollars in 1980 and 1988 respectively. The proposed project will pave the way for the development of crops with enhanced tolerance to stress combination, preempting future whether disasters that are likely to increase in frequency due to anticipated climatic changes.

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