Dimensions: Collaborative Research: An Interdisciplinary Study of Hyperdiverse Fungal Endophytes and Their Function in Boreal Forests

维度：合作研究：北方森林中超多样性真菌内生菌及其功能的跨学科研究

• 批准号: 1045766
• 负责人: Anne Arnold
• 金额: $ 99.9万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1045766&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dimensions; Collaborative; Research; Interdisciplinary; Study

As major sources of ecological and evolutionary innovation, symbioses drive genome evolution, ecological diversification, and speciation - and thus shape all dimensions of the diversity of life. The goal of this study is to examine the taxonomic, genetic, and functional diversity of endophytes, one of Earth's most prevalent, but least-understood, groups of symbionts. Endophytic fungi are found within healthy above-ground tissues of all plants (and in lichens as "endolichenic fungi"), including crop- and forage plants, and peak in their phylogenetic diversity in boreal forests, an imperiled ecosystem of immense global importance. This interdisciplinary study will develop a novel biodiversity informatics pipeline to discover, evaluate, and describe new species of boreal endophytes at multiple spatial and phylogenetic scales around the circumboreal belt. Culture-based and culture-free surveys will yield the largest sample of endophytic fungi to date, setting the stage for testing novel hypotheses regarding the evolution of ecological modes in the Ascomycota, the most species-rich fungal phylum; developing new model systems for evaluating, for the first time, the functional diversity of endophyte communities; and elucidating the genetic mechanisms shaping that diversity, including mobile genetic elements, endohyphal microbial symbionts, and genome evolution. Data will be managed and released through an integrated system built around the Suite of Nucleotide Analysis Programs (SNAP) and made public through a dedicated web portal, EnDoBiodiversity.org. This highly integrative project also seeks to promote diversity in science for high school students, STEM teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars at scales ranging from local outreach at four universities to widespread international collaboration. Hosting of international researchers, leadership of international workshops, and development of international symposia will synergize fungal taxonomy and molecular systematics while boosting rates of species descriptions to a level never reached before and fostering novel collaborations in the study of fungal symbionts. Building and sharing of novel biodiversity informatics tools will be complemented by development and deposition of permanent fungal culture collections and extensive molecular sequence datasets.

作为生态和进化创新的主要来源，共生推动着基因组进化、生态多样化和物种形成，从而塑造了生命多样性的各个方面。 这项研究的目的是检查内生菌的分类、遗传和功能多样性，内生菌是地球上最普遍但了解最少的共生体群体之一。 内生真菌存在于所有植物的健康地上组织中（在地衣中称为“内生真菌”），包括农作物和饲料植物，并且在北方森林中其系统发育多样性达到顶峰，北方森林是一个具有全球重要性的濒危生态系统。 这项跨学科研究将开发一种新颖的生物多样性信息学管道，以发现、评估和描述环北带周围多个空间和系统发育尺度的北方内生菌新物种。 基于培养物和非培养物的调查将产生迄今为止最大的内生真菌样本，为测试有关子囊菌门（物种最丰富的真菌门）生态模式进化的新假设奠定了基础；开发新的模型系统，首次评估内生菌群落的功能多样性；并阐明塑造这种多样性的遗传机制，包括移动遗传元件、菌丝内微生物共生体和基因组进化。 数据将通过围绕核苷酸分析程序套件 (SNAP) 构建的集成系统进行管理和发布，并通过专门的门户网站 EnDoBiodiversity.org 公开。这个高度整合的项目还旨在促进高中生、STEM 教师、本科生和研究生以及博士后学者的科学多样性，其规模从四所大学的本地推广到广泛的国际合作。 主办国际研究人员、领导国际研讨会和举办国际研讨会将协同真菌分类学和分子系统学，同时将物种描述率提高到以前从未达到的水平，并促进真菌共生体研究中的新合作。 新型生物多样性信息学工具的构建和共享将通过永久真菌培养物收藏和广泛的分子序列数据集的开发和沉积来补充。