DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Fungal endophytes and forest ecosystem function

论文研究：内生真菌与森林生态系统功能

• 批准号: 1010504
• 负责人: Peter Vitousek
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2013-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1010504&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Fungal; endophytes; forest

All leaves harbor diverse communities of fungi, both on their surface and within their tissues. The startling diversity of this group of microorganisms has just begun to be explored, and very little is yet known about their function in ecosystems. This project seeks to understand one possible role of these fungi: how they influence the process of decomposition. The general model of decomposition is that leaf litter is colonized and broken down by soil organisms after it reaches the ground. If some of the fungi inhabiting healthy, living leaves are latent decomposers, then they would have a head-start in breaking down litter compared to soil organisms, and their presence as the leaves senesce could even influence how decomposition proceeds. This project will test this hypothesis by using next-generation high throughput sequencing technologies, paired with biochemical and nutrient assays, to identify the fungi in a single, widely dispersed tree species (Metrosideros polymorpha), and trace these fungi through the process of decomposition in manipulative lab and field based experiments across an environmental matrix in Hawaii.The broader impacts of this study include the participation of high school students and undergraduates from both California and Hawaii. The results of this research have important implications for understanding nutrient cycling and microbial biodiversity in tropical ecosystems, and will be communicated through journal articles, conference presentations, and via ongoing interactions with conservation biologists and land managers in Hawaii.

所有叶子都在表面和组织内都有多种真菌社区。 这组微生物的惊人多样性刚刚开始探索，对它们在生态系统中的功能知之甚少。 该项目试图了解这些真菌的一种可能作用：它们如何影响分解过程。 分解的一般模型是，叶子到达地面后被土壤生物殖民和分解。 如果某些居住在健康的真菌是潜在的分解叶子，那么与土壤生物相比，它们将在打破垃圾方面有头头，而它们作为叶子的存在甚至可以影响分解方式。 该项目将通过使用下一代高吞吐量测序技术来检验这一假设，并与生化和养分测定法配对，以在单一分散的树种中识别真菌（Metrosideros polymorpha）（Metrosideros polymorpha），并通过这些真菌在基于鹰的范围内的跨越范围内的分解过程中追踪这些真菌。来自加利福尼亚和夏威夷的高中生和本科生。 这项研究的结果对了解热带生态系统中的营养循环和微生物生物多样性具有重要意义，并将通过期刊文章，会议演讲以及与夏威夷的保护生物学家和土地管理者进行持续的互动来传达。