4D Analysis of Molecules by Aptamers in Soil (4DMAPS)
The field of botany is well over a thousand years old, and the practice of agriculture millennia older than that. Yet surprisingly, little is understood about how plant roots interact with soil at the molecular level, a narrow zone around roots of intense microbial activity that scientists call the rhizosphere.
That zone of microbial activity could hold information valuable to understanding how plants stimulate microbes to transform nutrients and promote plant health, resist disease, and adapt to environmental changes and stress.
To better understand the rhizosphere, Ames Laboratory is leading an endeavor to develop a model instrument that will enable scientists to look at the biological interactions in the rhizosphere in real time, in the field.
This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Biological Systems Science Division, Biomolecular Characterization and Imaging Science program. Ames National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DEAC02-07CH11358.
Principal Investigator: Marit Nilsen-Hamilton
Co-PIs: George Kraus, Pranav Shrotriya, Larry Halverson, Ludiovico Cademartiri, Olga Zabotina
Staff Scientists: Lalith Khindurangala, Gennady Pogorelko
Post Docs: Soma Banerjee
