Understanding the Interactions of the Plant Root and Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria with Unique Correlative Surface Imaging Tools
EMSL Project ID
50170
Abstract
This research aims to achieve the following objectives: 1) integrate surface tools and apply them in submicron chemical mapping of the plant-microbe interface; 2) provide novel in vivo analysis of the flow of materials to understand the association of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) to plant roots; and 3) establish complementary observations to the focus project and advance fundamental understanding of quorum sensing, nitrogen fixation, and mass transfer in the complex plant-PGPB-soil system. Specifically, confocal microscopy, SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry), including time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and NanoSIMS, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) will be used collectively for the first time to study Brachypodium and its interaction with a gram negative (i.e., Pseudomonas SW25) and a gram positive (i.e., Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus) PGPB soil bacterium. Many activities occur at the plant surface in complex environmental conditions, the ability to probe and capture nitrogen/carbon flow, bacteria transformation, and quorum sensing in vivo is critical. Therefore, it is imperative that we develop new molecular approaches to capture the interactions at the plant-microbe, microbe-microbe, and plant-plant interfaces.
Project Details
Start Date
2018-03-22
End Date
2018-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Liu W., L. Huang, R.E. Komorek, P. Handakumbura, Y. Zhou, D. Hu, and M.H. Engelhard, et al. 2020. "Correlative Surface Imaging Reveals Chemical Signatures for Bacterial Hotspots on Plant Roots." Analyst 145, no. 2:393-401. PNNL-SA-149225. doi:10.1039/C9AN01954E