Fungi in the pine barrens ecosystem - biodiversity, systematics and function

松树林生态系统中的真菌 - 生物多样性、系统学和功能

• 批准号: 2224067
• 负责人: Ning Zhang
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2224067&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Fungi; pine; barrens; ecosystem; biodiversity

Despite two centuries of study, most fungal biodiversity on Earth remains unknown. Prior research indicates that plant roots in the understudied pine barrens ecosystem of the Eastern United States harbors unique and highly diverse fungal species, many of which are new to science. The goal of this project is to obtain a complete understanding of fungi associated with plant roots in the acidic, nutrient-poor, dry and fire-prone pine barrens ecosystem by studying their biodiversity, systematics and functions. The project will focus on fungi associated with pine, switchgrass and blueberry, which are the predominant and stress-tolerant plants in the pine barrens ecosystem. The project will provide research experience and training for undergraduate students, graduate students, and a postdoctoral associate from diverse backgrounds and will provide information for policy formulation by federal and state agencies (e.g., the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection) regarding land use and natural resource protection. This project also will provide resources for studies on increasing stress tolerance of forests, as well as bioenergy and food crops, to meet the challenges of climate change, such as drought, wildfire, soil acidification and nutrient limitation. The major objectives of this project are: 1) to collect plant root-associated fungi from the pine barrens ecosystem along a latitudinal transect from Maine to Florida, and to comprehensively name and describe novel fungal lineages; 2) to catalogue and compare the root fungal communities among these different climate and geographic locations using both culture-based and culture-independent next-generation DNA metabarcoding to understand and predict the impact of climate on the mycobiome; 3) to perform plant-fungal interaction experiments and study the functions of these root associated fungi; and 4) to train students and postdoc to conduct research across the entire spectrum of these activities. This study will combine the fields of phylogenetics, evolution, taxonomy, biodiversity, organismal biology, and next-generation DNA metabarcoding. The project will uncover novel fungi and elucidate the functions of these root-colonizing fungi, which is important for both natural and crop-associated applications. This project also will provide data to improve the accuracy of fungal diversity estimates through linking cultures with taxa that are, thus far, only known from DNA sequences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管经过两个世纪的研究，地球上大多数真菌的生物多样性仍然未知。先前的研究表明，美国东部未被研究的松树林生态系统中的植物根部蕴藏着独特且高度多样化的真菌物种，其中许多对科学来说是新的。该项目的目标是通过研究真菌的生物多样性、系统学和功能，全面了解酸性、营养贫乏、干燥和易燃的松林生态系统中与植物根相关的真菌。该项目将重点关注与松树、柳枝稷和蓝莓相关的真菌，这些植物是松树林生态系统中的主要且耐压植物。该项目将为来自不同背景的本科生、研究生和博士后提供研究经验和培训，并将为联邦和州机构（例如新泽西州派恩兰兹委员会和环境保护部）制定政策提供信息土地利用和自然资源保护。该项目还将为提高森林以及生物能源和粮食作物的胁迫耐受性的研究提供资源，以应对气候变化的挑战，如干旱、野火、土壤酸化和养分限制。该项目的主要目标是：1）沿着从缅因州到佛罗里达州的纬度样带，从松树林生态系统中收集与植物根相关的真菌，并全面命名和描述新的真菌谱系； 2) 使用基于文化和独立于文化的下一代 DNA 元条形码对这些不同气候和地理位置之间的根真菌群落进行编目和比较，以了解和预测气候对真菌组的影响； 3）进行植物-真菌相互作用实验并研究这些根相关真菌的功能； 4) 培训学生和博士后在这些活动的整个范围内进行研究。这项研究将结合系统发育学、进化、分类学、生物多样性、有机生物学和下一代 DNA 元条形码等领域。该项目将发现新型真菌并阐明这些根部定殖真菌的功能，这对于自然和作物相关应用都很重要。该项目还将提供数据，通过将文化与迄今为止仅从 DNA 序列中获知的分类群联系起来，提高真菌多样性估计的准确性。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。