NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: How will climate change influence how endophytes decompose plant litter?

该行动为2022财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。面对全球气候变化，预测碳如何在生态系统中移动是一项重大挑战。这些预测依赖于对气候变化如何影响微生物群落的理解，这些微生物群落从分解的植物凋落物中释放碳。对植物凋落物分解的研究往往集中在自由生活在土壤中的真菌上，因为已知它们能产生分解植物细胞壁的酶。然而，越来越多的证据表明，真菌内生菌（生活在植物内部的真菌）也能显著分解植物凋落物。该项目旨在了解气候、真菌内生菌群落和植物凋落物化学成分的变化如何影响凋落物分解速率。本研究的发现将阐明真菌内生菌如何影响整个生态系统尺度上的碳运动。该研究员将通过数据科学研讨会扩大代表性不足群体的参与，并将通过交互式气候变化课程与当地中学生接触。真菌内生菌群落将在炎热干燥或寒冷潮湿的环境之间相互移植，以了解气候变化如何影响真菌内生菌在一年内分解凋落物。该项目将测试三个假设，通过利用高通量分子方法预测：(1)气候，(2)真菌内生菌群落和(3)它们的相互作用如何影响凋落物质量损失（分解的一种衡量标准）。为此，气候变量（降水、温度）和真菌内生菌群落特征（生物量、物种组成、酶活性、基因表达）将与凋落物质量或特定碳化合物的损失相关联，以确定最能解释不同气候梯度凋落物分解率差异的因素。该项目将确定遗传、生态或生物地球化学因素，这些因素控制真菌内生菌——植物界普遍存在的共生体——如何分解植物凋落物并促进陆地碳循环。该研究员将通过赞助科学家获得有关真菌内生菌基因表达和凋落物化学特征的指导，并通过指导，研讨会和气候科学教育促进代表性不足的群体的更广泛参与。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 action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Predicting how carbon moves through ecosystems is a major challenge in the face of global climate change. These predictions are dependent on understanding how changes in climate influence the microbial communities that release carbon from decomposing plant litter. Studies on plant litter decomposition tend to focus on fungi that live freely in the soil because they are known to produce enzymes that breakdown plant cell walls. Yet mounting evidence suggests that fungal endophytes (fungi living inside plants) can also significantly decompose plant litter. This project seeks to understand how changes in climate, the fungal endophyte community and the chemical composition of plant litter influences litter decomposition rate. Findings from this study will illuminate how fungal endophytes affect the movement of carbon at the scale of whole ecosystems. The fellow will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups through data science workshops and will engage with local middle school students through an interactive climate change curriculum.Fungal endophyte communities will be reciprocally transplanted between environments that are either hot and dry or cold and wet to understand how changes in climate influence litter decomposition by fungal endophytes over the course of one year. This project will test three hypotheses that predict how (1) climate, (2) the fungal endophyte community and (3) their interaction influence litter mass loss, a measure of decomposition, by leveraging high-throughput molecular methods. To do this, climatic variables (precipitation, temperature) and features of the fungal endophyte community (biomass, species composition, enzyme activity, gene expression) will be correlated to the loss of litter mass or specific carbon compounds to identify the factors that best explain differences in litter decomposition rate across a climate gradient. This project will identify the genetic, ecological or biogeochemical factors that govern how fungal endophytes - ubiquitous symbionts of the plant kingdom - decompose plant litter and contribute to the terrestrial carbon cycle. The fellow will receive mentoring related to the characterization of fungal endophyte gene expression and litter chemistry through the sponsoring scientists as well as facilitate the broader participation of underrepresented groups through mentorship, workshops and climate science education.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.