NSF Award
2401675
Climbing vines weave through the forest canopy wrapping themselves around host trees in search of light at the top of the canopy. Climbing vines are a critical part of forest ecosystems, where they frequently outcompete and kill forest trees. Moreover, these plants are increasing in size and abundance in response to forest fragmentation and climate change. However, we still lack a basic understanding of precisely how these plants perform their dramatic snake-like twining motions. In this CAREER award, the developmental basis of twining will be investigated. How cells, tissues, hormones, and molecular biology interact to build a twining vine will be investigated, with the aim of revealing the fundamental reasons that vines are distinct from erect plants. To enhance public and professional literacy of how plants are constructed – the field of plant anatomy – the PI will launch an educational video series teaching plant anatomy with live dissections and animations. This video series will be made freely available to engage novice, and as a primer and teaching tool for professional scientists and educators.<br/><br/>In this CAREER award, the investigator seeks to address the following question – “how do vines climb?” – by leveraging a multiscale integrative approach linking gene expression, cell wall construction, and hormone regulation to organismal form to explain the developmental processes that generate twining vines. Using common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Fabaceae), as the model species, the research aims of this proposal are to: (1) Characterize the developmental basis underpinning the continuum of habits, from twiners, to prostrate vine, to erect shrub; (2) Elucidate how phytohormones determine plant habit; and (3) Test the functional role of gelatinous fibers in twiners. At present, there is a significant imbalance in training and pedagogy between molecular biology and plant anatomy in the United States, therefore hindering advancements in the plant sciences. The broader impacts aim of this work is to generate an animated educational Plant Anatomy video series. This resource will serve as a freely available resource to advance public literacy of botany while providing critically absent expertise for the scientific community. The educational aims are to: (1) Identify gaps in the pedagogy for targeted intervention through surveying the needs of the botanical community; (2) Write, produce, and disseminate a plant anatomy educational videos series “Build a Plant”; and (3) Integrate plant anatomy learning outcomes in undergraduate courses.<br/><br/>This award is co-funded by BIO-IOS-Developmental Systems and the BIO-IOS-Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics program.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
