Research
Plant adaptation to elevated carbon dioxide:Using a lipidomic approach to identify alterations in lipid metabolism and signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Ruth Welti and Richard Jeannotte
Lipids form the structure of membranes, are fuels for metabolism, and make up the largest, and arguably the most important, group of signaling compounds and precursors of signaling compounds. Although lipid species have been demonstrated to play important roles in plant response to many environmental phenomena, the effect of elevated carbon dioxide on lipids, and particularly on lipid species involved in signaling, has not been examined in detail. In our work, which is occurring in collaboration with Joy Ward and colleagues at the University of Kansas, the effect of elevated carbon dioxide on the levels of over 140 lipid molecular species from 20 genotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana is being determined, utilizing rapid and comprehensive lipidomics technology. The genotypes include (1) plants from varying locations in North America, Europe, and the Cape Verde Islands and (2) in plants that have been selected at elevated CO2. The following hypotheses are being tested:
1. CO2 treatment (380 or 700 ppm) during plant growth affects the levels of specific lipid species.
2. The levels of particular lipid species are influenced by genotype and in-lab selection at elevated CO2.
A postdoctoral fellow and two undergraduates are receiving training through this project. In addition to the data on lipid alterations in response to CO2 levels, the work is producing data on the variation in lipid molecular species composition in Arabidopsis as a function of geographical variation. These data will be deposited in LipidomeDB, an online-accessible database, and will serve as baseline data for other researchers who plan to examine the interplay between genotype and environmental factors on lipid composition.
Our long term goals are to investigate the genetic basis for, efficacy of, and roles of alterations in lipid metabolism that occur when plants adapt to elevated CO2 or when plant development is altered by selection at elevated CO2.
