Dissertation Research: Mechanisms Underlying Complex Interactions Between Plants, Herbivores, and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

论文研究：植物、食草动物和丛枝菌根真菌之间复杂相互作用的机制

• 批准号: 0407816
• 负责人: James Bever
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-06-01 至 2006-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0407816&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Mechanisms; Underlying; Complex

Studies of insect herbivore impacts on plants in nature and agriculture have primarily focused on the direct interactions that occur between an herbivore and a plant. However, we know that soil organisms such as beneficial mycorrhizal fungi (which promote nutrient absorption by plants) can alter plant growth and the outcome of plant-plant interactions. Therefore, we expect that these soil organisms can also change the outcome of a plant-herbivore interaction. The research tests two novel hypotheses for predicting the outcomes of interactions between herbivores, plants and mycorrhizal fungi. The Nutrition Hypothesis suggests that increased nutrition from a plant's association with mycorrhizal fungi will directly translate into increased herbivore growth, and the Modification of Defense Hypothesis suggests that mycorrhizal fungi alter the production of plant defenses such that herbivores feeding on mycorrhizal plants experience a decrease in growth compared to herbivores feeding on non-mycorrhizal plants. Two experiments will be conducted to examine herbivory on plants associated with mycorrhizal fungi. These experiments will examine three plant defense responses; measure herbivore responses to the presence of mycorrhizae; and measure mycorrhizal responses to herbivory, thereby determining which hypothesis is most consistent with the responses exhibited by this system. Knowledge of mycorrhizal-plant-herbivore interactions will provide a predictive tool for understanding the impact of herbivores in agriculture as a function of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil community. Through work on these experiments, the PI will continue mentoring minority and female undergraduates. These students will assist with the implementation of these experiments while developing and conducting their own projects; they will improve their analytical skills, and broadened their academic preparation to enter a variety of scientific fields.

昆虫食草动物对自然和农业中植物的影响的研究主要集中在草食动物与植物之间发生的直接相互作用。 但是，我们知道，诸如有益的菌根真菌（促进植物的营养吸收）等土壤生物可以改变植物的生长和植物植物相互作用的结果。 因此，我们预计这些土壤生物也会改变植物 - 动物相互作用的结果。 该研究检验了两个新的假设，以预测草食动物，植物和菌根真菌之间相互作用的结果。 营养假设表明，植物与菌根真菌相关的营养增加将直接转化为草食动物的增长增加，而防御假设的修饰表明，菌根真菌改变了植物防御剂的产生，从而使植物植物的食草动物与植物的生长相比降低了，与植物相比，植物的饲料降低了。 将进行两个实验，以检查与菌根真菌相关的植物的草食性。 这些实验将检查三个植物防御反应。测量草食动物对菌根存在的反应；并衡量菌根对草食的反应，从而确定哪种假设与该系统所表现出的响应最一致。 对菌根植物 - 植物植物相互作用的了解将为理解食草动物在农业中的影响提供一种预测工具，这是土壤社区中菌根真菌的函数。 通过这些实验的工作，PI将继续指导少数群体和女性本科生。 这些学生将在开发和开展自己的项目时协助实施这些实验；他们将提高分析能力，并扩大他们进入各种科学领域的学术准备。