RUI: Building a molecular foundation for tropical mycorrhizal biology: Sporocarp surveys of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity of Southeast Asian dipterocarp forests

RUI：建立热带菌根生物学的分子基础：东南亚龙脑香科森林外生菌根真菌多样性的子实体调查

• 批准号: 1120011
• 负责人: Krista McGuire
• 金额: $ 38万
• 依托单位: Barnard College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-15 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1120011&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Building; molecular; foundation; tropical

The Dipterocarpaceae is the most diverse and abundant tree family in the lowland tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. There are more than 500 species and all depend on root-associated ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi to obtain soil nutrients. Ectomycorrhizal fungi have evolved intimate associations with particular groups of trees in forest communities across the world, but they are rare in most lowland tropical regions. However, the extent of ECM fungal diversity is unknown, thereby making tests of important evolutionary and ecological hypotheses difficult. While soil fungi predominantly exist in microscopic form, many fungi make macroscopic fruiting bodies during the sexual stage of their life cycle, enabling taxonomic identifications that can be coupled with molecular data. This project will make use of an existing collection of identified and curated fungi in Malaysia to begin building a DNA database for fungal diversity in dipterocarp forest. This effort will allow environmental samples of soils and roots to be linked to specific species of fungi. Also, fungal fruiting bodies from the dipterocarp forest will continue to be collected, identified, and sequenced at a greater intensity with efforts to identify host tree species of specific fungi. Broader impacts for this project include the teaching and training of local Malaysian assistants and students. We will also provide an intensive training workshop for foreign and Malaysian researchers in the collection and identification of fungal sporocarps in the field. Digital images of sporocarps will be publicly available online. Since dipterocarps are also highly prized for timber and have experienced some the highest deforestation rates in the world, this research will be useful for implementing strategies for forest conservation and regeneration.

双龙科是东南亚低地热带雨林中种类最丰富的树科。有超过500种，都依赖于根相关的外生菌根（ECM）真菌获取土壤养分。外生菌根真菌在世界各地的森林群落中与特定的树木群体进化出了密切的联系，但它们在大多数低地热带地区很少见。然而，ECM真菌多样性的程度是未知的，从而使重要的进化和生态假设的测试变得困难。虽然土壤真菌主要以微观形式存在，但许多真菌在其生命周期的性阶段产生宏观子实体，使分类鉴定可以与分子数据相结合。该项目将利用马来西亚现有的已鉴定和整理的真菌集合，开始建立一个龙脑树森林真菌多样性的DNA数据库。这一努力将使土壤和根的环境样本与特定种类的真菌联系起来。此外，将继续加大对龙脑树真菌子实体的收集、鉴定和测序力度，努力鉴定特定真菌的寄主树种。对该项目更广泛的影响包括马来西亚当地助理和学生的教学和培训。我们还将为外国和马来西亚的研究人员提供实地收集和鉴定真菌孢子囊的密集培训讲习班。孢子囊的数字图像将在网上公开。由于龙脑树的木材价值很高，并且经历了世界上最高的森林砍伐率，因此这项研究将有助于实施森林保护和再生战略。