The use of metabolomics to dissect plant responses to abiotic stresses

Plant metabolism is perturbed by various abiotic stresses. As such the metabolic network of plants must be reconfigured under stress conditions in order to allow both the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis and the production of compounds that ameliorate the stress. The recent development and adoption of metabolomics and systems biology approaches enable us not only to gain a comprehensive overview, but also a detailed analysis of crucial components of the plant metabolic response to abiotic stresses. In this review we introduce the analytical methods used for plant metabolomics and describe their use in studies related to the metabolic response to water, temperature, light, nutrient limitation, ion and oxidative stresses. Both similarity and specificity of the metabolic responses against diverse abiotic stress are evaluated using data available in the literature. Classically discussed stress compounds such as proline, gamma-amino butyrate and polyamines are reviewed, and the widespread importance of branched chain amino acid metabolism under stress condition is discussed. Finally, where possible, mechanistic insights into metabolic regulatory processes are discussed

Charge-noise-free Lateral Quantum Dot Devices with Undoped Si/SiGe Wafer

We develop quantum dots in a single layered MOS structure using an undoped Si/SiGe wafer. By applying a positive bias on the surface gates, electrons are accumulated in the Si channel. Clear Coulomb diamond and double dot charge stability diagrams are measured. The temporal fluctuation of the current is traced, to which we apply the Fourier transform analysis. The power spectrum of the noise signal is inversely proportional to the frequency, and is different from the inversely quadratic behavior known for quantum dots made in doped wafers. Our results indicate that the source of charge noise for the doped wafers is related to the 2DEG dopant.Comment: Proceedings of the 12th Asia Pacific Physics Conferenc