CAREER: The Role of Common Mycorrhizal Networks in the Establishment, Environmental Change, and Persistence of an Invasive Plant Species in the Tallgrass Prairie

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。这项工作将研究真菌如何影响美国最昂贵的环境问题之一-入侵物种。世界上大多数植物都把糖喂给生活在它们根部的菌根真菌。作为回报，菌根真菌在土壤中寻找矿物质养分，并将它们提供给它们的植物宿主。而在土壤中，真菌经常遇到并定居在邻近的根系中，以菌根网络将植物连接起来。这项工作将调查菌根网络如何影响加拿大蓟（或“美国最糟糕的杂草”）与本土草原植物之间的相互作用。该研究还将检查与加拿大蓟有关的菌根网络是否改变了土壤真菌群落的组成。最后，这项工作将调查这种变化是否能使加拿大蓟在大草原上长期存在。该研究人员将培训第一代和代表性不足的少数民族大学生和高中生，以满足培养多样化STEM劳动力的国家需求。作为CAREER活动的一部分，研究人员还将为大学课程的多个层次开发和广泛传播植物科学课程材料。最后，研究人员将提供专业发展的环境科学教师来自人口代表性不足的地区。教师将学习如何将规范的实验练习转化为探究性的活动，教授科学的本质。这些活动将帮助研究人员获得研究和教学平衡的职业生涯。建议的工作将把常见的菌根网络（CMNs）纳入现有的关于植物入侵、群落结构和自然界丛枝菌根真菌功能的理论和假设中。本研究将探讨CMNs在促进引进外来物种(1)在新栖息地建立，2)改变生物环境，以及3)在引进地区持续存在方面的机制作用。利用稳定同位素示踪，研究人员将通过研究CMNs内碳供应和氮转移机制，研究入侵物种建立的第一个也是最重要的相互作用，即与本地植物的竞争。在使用下一代Illumina MiSeq测序的实地研究中，她将研究入侵物种如何利用CMNs改变丛枝菌根真菌群落。最后，PI将测试CMNs在允许加拿大蓟通过植物-土壤反馈持续存在方面的作用。该项目将通过以课程为基础的研究经验提高大学生的植物和科学素养，其结果将协同为研究提供信息。此外，PI将为K-12科学教师提供环境科学和生物学探究性教学的专业发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This work will study how fungi affect one of the most expensive environmental issues in the US - invasive species. Most plants in the world feed sugars to the mycorrhizal fungi living in their roots. In return, the mycorrhizal fungi forage the soil for mineral nutrients and provide them to their plant hosts. While in the soil, the fungi often encounter, and colonize a neighboring root system, connecting the plants in a mycorrhizal network. The work will investigate how mycorrhizal networks affect interactions between Canada Thistle, or “the worst weed in the US,” and native prairie plants. The research will also examine if mycorrhizal networks connected to Canada Thistle change the makeup of the soil fungal community. Finally, the work will investigate if this change enables Canada Thistle to persist in prairies long-term. The researcher will train first-generation and under-represented minority college and high school students, addressing a national need to train a diverse STEM workforce. As part of the CAREER activities, the researcher will also develop and broadly disseminate plant science course materials for multiple levels of the college curriculum. Finally, the researcher will provide professional development to environmental science teachers from areas with high populations of underrepresented students. Teachers will learn how to transform prescriptive lab exercises into inquiry-based activities that teach the nature of science. These activities will assist the researcher in attaining a career that is balanced by both research and teaching.The proposed work will incorporate common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) into existing theories and hypotheses about plant invasions, community structuring, and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in nature. The research will examine the mechanistic role of CMNs in facilitating introduced, exotic species to 1) establish in new habitats, 2) change the biotic environment, and 3) persist within introduced areas. Using stable isotope tracing, the researcher will examine the first and most important interaction in establishing invasive species, competition with native plants, by examining the mechanisms of carbon provisioning and nitrogen transfer within CMNs. In a field study using Next-Generation Illumina MiSeq sequencing, she will examine how invasive species alter arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities by utilizing CMNs. Finally, the PI will test the role of CMNs in allowing Canada Thistle to persist through plant-soil feedbacks. The project will improve plant and scientific literacy of college students with course-based research experiences whose results synergistically inform the research. Additionally, the PI will provide professional development to K-12 science teachers on inquiry-based teaching in environmental science and biology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.