International Research Fellowship Program: Interactions Among Tropical Plants, Herbivores, Pathogens and Endophytic Fungi

0401957VanBael国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到24个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将支持阳光A.VanBael博士与巴拿马史密森热带研究所的Nelida Gomez博士合作的为期22个月的研究奖学金。真菌内生菌是生活在健康植物组织内部而不是表面的微生物。在所有采样的植物中都发现了内生菌，但对内生菌如何与植物及其天敌相互作用知之甚少。研究最好的内生菌系统是那些具有温带驯化草的系统。在这里，内生真菌是垂直传播的(从母亲到种子)，并通过产生阻止草食动物的化合物来保护宿主。然而，在热带地区，对内生真菌的生态和进化作用的调查才刚刚开始。与研究较好的草地系统相比，热带内生菌具有高度的多样性，是水平传播的(通过孢子)，显示出寄主与植物的亲和力，并显示出抗病原体的活性。该研究所将研究内生真菌如何改变巴拿马Cassidine甲虫(Cassidinae：叶甲科)与它们的寄主植物(旋花科/茄科)之间的植物/草食/病原体相互作用。这些生物之所以被选为模式系统，是因为我们对它们的行为、分布、寄主专一性和化学生态学有广泛的背景知识。此外，寄主植物材料的初步收集表明，它们的内生菌是共同的、多样的，并显示出寄主与植物的亲和力。这项研究将首次研究热带系统中植物、内生植物和草食动物之间的相互作用。主办机构(STRI)是开展这项研究的理想场所，因为它需要STRI和巴拿马大学的几个实验室小组的投入和设施，STRI与巴拿马大学保持着一项科学合作协议。

0401957VanBaelThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Sunshine A. VanBael to work with Dr. Nelida Gomez at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.Fungal endophytes are microorganisms that live inside, rather than on the surface, of healthy plant tissue. Endophytes have been found in all plants sampled, but little is known about how endophytes interact with plants and their natural enemies. The best studied endophyte systems are those with temperate, domesticated grasses. Here, the endophytic fungi are vertically transmitted (from mother to seed) and protect their hosts by producing compounds that deter herbivores. In tropical areas, however, investigation into the ecological and evolutionary roles of endophytic fungi has just begun. In contrastto the better studied grass systems, tropical endophytes are highly diverse, are horizontally transmitted (via spores), show host-plant affinities, and exhibit anti-pathogen activity. The PI will study how endophytic fungi modify plant/herbivore/pathogen interactions between Cassidine beetles (Cassidinae: Chrysomelidae) and their host plants (Convulvulaceae/Solanaceae) in Panama. These organisms were chosen as a model system because we have extensive background knowledge about their behavior,distribution, host-specificity and chemical ecology. Moreover, preliminary collections of the host plant material indicate that their endophytes are common, diverse and show host-plant affinity. This research will be the first to study interactions between plants, endophytes and herbivores in a tropical system. The host institution (STRI) is an ideal place to pursue this research because it requires input and facilities from several lab groups at STRI and the University of Panama, with which STRI maintains a scientific cooperation agreement.