DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Consequences of Indirect Defensive Traits on Microbial Diversity

论文研究：间接防御特征对微生物多样性的影响

• 批准号: 1209031
• 负责人: Anurag Agrawal
• 金额: $ 1.49万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1209031&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Consequences; Indirect; Defensive

Plants have evolved many interesting ways to defend themselves against their enemies, pathogens (generally microbes such as fungus) and herbivores (insects, for example). One approach plants use for defense is to attract species that suppress pathogens or herbivores -- enemies of their enemies -- by offering food or shelter. This research explores the effectiveness of providing food and shelter through experiments that focus on mites that eat harmful fungi on leaves. The effectiveness of providing food will be explored by experiments with extrafloral nectaries, small glands on leaves that secrete sugar and attract mites and ants. The effectiveness of providing shelter will be explored by experiments with leaf domatia, tiny structures on the undersides of leaves that house fungus-eating mites. The traits studied in this work, extrafloral nectarines and domatia, are very widespread: they are present on many common trees and popular ornamental shrubs, as well as on crop plants such as cotton, coffee and grape. Additionally, the interactions between these traits, mites and fungi are used in agriculture as a way to decrease plant pathogen damage without the use of harmful fungicides. Thus, understanding their evolution and ecology can inform how we manage species interactions in our local ecosystems as well as in our crops and urban landscapes. Undergraduate students will be involved in this project and mentored in research. Likewise, a program is in place to communicate the work to middle school students.

植物已经进化了许多有趣的方法来捍卫自己的敌人，病原体（通常是真菌等微生物）和食草动物（例如，昆虫）。 一种用于防御的方法是吸引通过提供食物或庇护所抑制病原体或食草动物（其敌人敌人）的物种。 这项研究通过实验探讨了提供食物和庇护所的有效性，这些实验专注于在叶子上吃有害真菌的螨虫。 提供食物的有效性将通过外室蜜饯的实验探索，在叶子上分泌糖并吸引螨虫和蚂蚁的叶子上的小腺体。提供庇护所的有效性将通过叶圆顶的实验探索，这是叶子上容纳真菌螨的叶子的微小结构。 在这项工作中研究的特征，外向的油桃和圆顶性非常广泛：它们存在于许多常见的树木和流行的观赏灌木以及棉花，咖啡和葡萄等作物植物上。此外，这些特征，螨虫和真菌之间的相互作用在农业中被用作减少植物病原体损害而无需使用有害杀菌剂的一种方式。因此，了解它们的进化和生态可以告知我们如何管理当地生态系统以及我们的农作物和城市景观中的物种相互作用。 本科生将参与该项目，并在研究中进行指导。 同样，也制定了一个计划，将工作传达给中学生。