Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2002

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2002. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for a recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden his/her scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations. The research and training plan is entitled "Do fungal endosymbionts of grasses structure community diversity and modify food web dynamics?" Endophytic fungi form symbioses with grasses and produce toxic alkaloids that reduce herbivory to their hosts. This research evaluates how grass endophytes modify the diversity and dynamics of plant, pathogen, and arthropod assemblages and asks how fungal alkaloid chemistry influences these effects. This investigation will expand our understanding of how plant-microbe mutualisms influence community dynamics and biodiversity.