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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** NATURAL FRESHWATER RESOURCES IN THE U.S. CORN BELT ARE SHRINKING DUE TO OVERUSE AND WORSENING DROUGHT. CORN PRODUCTION ALREADY USES MORE WATER THAN ANY OTHER CROP, YET THE NEED FOR IRRIGATION IS RISING AS TEMPERATURES INCREASE AND PRECIPITATION DROPS. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO THIS PROBLEM MUST SIMULTANEOUSLY PROTECT YIELDS AND OUR FRESHWATER SUPPLIES. THIS PROPOSAL EXPLORES THE USE OF BENEFICIAL MICROBES FOR IMPROVING CORN DROUGHT TOLERANCE.ROOT MICROBIOMES ARE KNOWN TO AFFECT PLANT DROUGHT TOLERANCE, BUT THEIR EXTREME COMPLEXITY HAS BEEN AN OBSTACLE TO UNDERSTANDING WHICH MICROBES AND MICROBIAL GENES CAUSE THESE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. WE WILL GENERATE NEW EXPERIMENTAL RESOURCES TO DISSECT THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF MICROBE-INDUCED DROUGHT TOLERANCE: NAMELY, A SIMPLIFIED COMMUNITY OF MAIZE ROOT MICROBES AND IMPROVED METAPROTEOMICS METHODS. WE WILL COMBINE THESE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE OUR OVERALL GOAL: IDENTIFICATION OF MICROBIAL GENES AND PROTEINS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO PLANT DROUGHT TOLERANCE.FIRST, WE WILL ISOLATE AND SEQUENCE A COLLECTION OF ROOT-ASSOCIATED MICROBES FROM SOILS ACROSS A NATURAL PRECIPITATION GRADIENT IN KANSAS, AND SCREEN THEM FOR BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON DROUGHT-STRESSED CORN SEEDLINGS. SECOND, WE WILL FINE-TUNE METHODS FOR MEASURING MICROBIAL PROTEIN EXPRESSION WITHIN PLANT ROOTS. FINALLY, WE WILL COMBINE THESE NEW TOOLS IN A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS TO INVESTIGATE GENES AND PROTEINS INVOLVED IN MICROBE-MICROBE-PLANT INTERACTIONS THAT ENHANCE DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN CORN. THE RESULTING NEW RESEARCH TOOLS AND IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBIOME FUNCTION WOULD BRING US CLOSER TO THE GOAL OF USING BENEFICIAL MICROBES TO PROTECT CORN YIELDS UNDER WATER-LIMITED CONDITIONS WITHOUT FURTHER DEPLETING OUR NATURAL FRESHWATER RESOURCES.

$849,000FY2022National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

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**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** NATURAL FRESHWATER RESOURCES IN THE U.S. CORN BELT ARE SHRINKING DUE TO OVERUSE AND WORSENING DROUGHT. CORN PRODUCTION ALREADY USES MORE WATER THAN ANY OTHER CROP, YET THE NEED FOR IRRIGATION IS RISING AS TEMPERATURES INCREASE AND PRECIPITATION DROPS. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO THIS PROBLEM MUST SIMULTANEOUSLY PROTECT YIELDS AND OUR FRESHWATER SUPPLIES. THIS PROPOSAL EXPLORES THE USE OF BENEFICIAL MICROBES FOR IMPROVING CORN DROUGHT TOLERANCE.ROOT MICROBIOMES ARE KNOWN TO AFFECT PLANT DROUGHT TOLERANCE, BUT THEIR EXTREME COMPLEXITY HAS BEEN AN OBSTACLE TO UNDERSTANDING WHICH MICROBES AND MICROBIAL GENES CAUSE THESE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. WE WILL GENERATE NEW EXPERIMENTAL RESOURCES TO DISSECT THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF MICROBE-INDUCED DROUGHT TOLERANCE: NAMELY, A SIMPLIFIED COMMUNITY OF MAIZE ROOT MICROBES AND IMPROVED METAPROTEOMICS METHODS. WE WILL COMBINE THESE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE OUR OVERALL GOAL: IDENTIFICATION OF MICROBIAL GENES AND PROTEINS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO PLANT DROUGHT TOLERANCE.FIRST, WE WILL ISOLATE AND SEQUENCE A COLLECTION OF ROOT-ASSOCIATED MICROBES FROM SOILS ACROSS A NATURAL PRECIPITATION GRADIENT IN KANSAS, AND SCREEN THEM FOR BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON DROUGHT-STRESSED CORN SEEDLINGS. SECOND, WE WILL FINE-TUNE METHODS FOR MEASURING MICROBIAL PROTEIN EXPRESSION WITHIN PLANT ROOTS. FINALLY, WE WILL COMBINE THESE NEW TOOLS IN A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS TO INVESTIGATE GENES AND PROTEINS INVOLVED IN MICROBE-MICROBE-PLANT INTERACTIONS THAT ENHANCE DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN CORN. THE RESULTING NEW RESEARCH TOOLS AND IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBIOME FUNCTION WOULD BRING US CLOSER TO THE GOAL OF USING BENEFICIAL MICROBES TO PROTECT CORN YIELDS UNDER WATER-LIMITED CONDITIONS WITHOUT FURTHER DEPLETING OUR NATURAL FRESHWATER RESOURCES. · GrantIndex