Location: Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research
Project Number: 2090-21000-033-004-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2015
End Date: Aug 31, 2020
Objective:
To develop an understanding of the profiles of metabolites in plant tissue that has been exposed to various stress factors, primarily temperature stress. Characterize specific groups of metabolites that are uniquely involved in the stress response, thereby developing an understanding of the pathways that are key to the ability of plants to withstand the rigors of the winter months and other periods of cold temperature. Identify plant lines especially adept at tolerating stress and use the metabolite profile information to identify plant lines that make use of a variety of stress tolerance mechanisms.
Approach:
Plants will be grown under conditions conducive to ideal growth, acclimated to cold temperature, then subjected to a variety of cold temperature stress regimes. Plant tissue will be collected at key time points, crushed in liquid nitrogen, and cellular contents will be collected. The cellular contents will be analyzed for key metabolites using a series of techniques and equipment including nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and associated techniques. The data will be analyzed using multivariate techniques to identify combinations of metabolites that are instrumental in stress tolerance.
