DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Is there niche partitioning among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi?

在已知的25万种维管植物物种中，有三分之二与与根一起生长的丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）共生。AMF从植物中获取糖，同时增加养分或水分的吸收，或提供保护，使其免受某些土壤中重金属的侵害。大多数单株植物支持一种以上的AMF。虽然所有的AMF物种曾经被认为具有相似的功能，但越来越多的证据表明，不同的AMF物种具有不同的功能，并且任何一个物种的重要性可能取决于土壤环境和共生真菌的身份。本项目将对天然蛇形草地的植物、AMF和土壤进行实验，以确定AMF物种之间是否存在功能差异。AMF的功能将通过其对植物生长和植物营养和金属含量的影响来衡量。该项目还将开发和测试一种创新的方法来测量AMF丰度，该方法基于荧光标记抗体，可以创建出独特的物种标记。这项技术可以证明对自然和农业生态系统中植物和AMF生态学的研究具有变革性。蛇形草原是全球罕见的濒危生态系统，土壤中天然含有大量有毒重金属。了解AMF在帮助植物应对重金属方面的作用将有助于蛇纹石场地和污染土壤的恢复。本项目还将支持一名植物生态学博士生的研究培训。

Two-thirds of the known 250,000 vascular plant species live in mutualisms with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that grow in association with roots. AMF acquire sugar from plants while increasing nutrient or water uptake or providing protection from heavy metals found in some soils. Most individual plants support more than one species of AMF. Although all AMF species were once thought to provide similar functions, there is growing evidence that different AMF species perform different functions and that the importance of any one species may be conditional on soil environment and on the identity of co-occurring fungi. This project will conduct experiments with plants, AMF, and soil from natural serpentine grasslands to determine whether there are functional differences among AMF species. The function of AMF will be measured by their effect on plant growth and plant nutrient and metal content. This project will also develop and test an innovative new approach to measuring AMF abundance, based on fluorescent-labeled antibodies that can be created to label the species uniquely. This technique could prove transformative to the study of plant and AMF ecology in natural and agro-ecosystems. Serpentine grasslands are a globally rare and threatened ecosystem with soils naturally high in toxic heavy metals. Understanding the role AMF play in helping plants cope with heavy metals will be helpful in the restoration of both serpentine sites and polluted soils. This project will also support the research training of a doctoral student in plant ecology.