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.

所有叶子的表面和组织内都含有不同的真菌群落。 人们刚刚开始探索这组微生物的惊人多样性，但人们对它们在生态系统中的功能知之甚少。 该项目旨在了解这些真菌的一种可能作用：它们如何影响分解过程。 分解的一般模型是落叶层到达地面后被土壤生物定植并分解。 如果居住在健康、活的叶子上的一些真菌是潜在的分解者，那么与土壤生物相比，它们在分解垃圾方面会占据先机，而且它们在叶子衰老时的存在甚至可能影响分解的进行。 该项目将通过使用下一代高通量测序技术，结合生化和营养分析来测试这一假设，以识别单一、广泛分散的树种（Metrosideros polymorpha）中的真菌，并通过在植物中的分解过程来追踪这些真菌。在夏威夷的环境矩阵中进行实验室和现场实验。这项研究的更广泛影响包括来自加利福尼亚州和夏威夷州的高中生和本科生的参与。 这项研究的结果对于理解热带生态系统中的养分循环和微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保护生物学家和土地管理者的持续互动进行交流。