Nebraska engineers using metabolic model to study temperature stress on corn

A research team led by Nebraska scientists has built the largest-ever metabolic model of corn to study how temperature stress affects the plant and how a certain fungus can help alleviate the problem.

The research is an expansion of earlier work with a metabolic model of corn roots that the same team used to study the plant’s nitrogen-use efficiency under nitrogen stress conditions, said Rajib Saha, Richard L. and Carol S. McNeel associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and principal investigator. Saha and the team have expanded the model to comprise the entire plant, not just the roots, allowing for expanded research into the intricate metabolic interactions, their associated molecular underpinning and a variety of stressors that can affect productivity.

The Nebraska-developed multi-organ metabolic model — the largest ever created of corn (or any other plant) — allows scientists to conduct research more efficiently and quickly than field research using actual corn plants. The model can also help field researchers with actual corn plants conduct experiments faster and more efficiently, said Niaz Bahar Chowdhury, a doctoral student working with Saha.

It’s estimated that temperature stress resulting from climate change can reduce corn productivity by 7% to 18%.

“There is a pressing need to develop high-yielding maize genotypes capable of withstanding temperature stress,” Saha said.