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

这一行动资助了NSF 2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加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。这些预测取决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植物垃圾中释放碳。对植物凋落物分解的研究往往集中在在土壤中自由生活的真菌，因为众所周知，它们产生的酶能破坏植物细胞壁。然而，越来越多的证据表明，真菌内生菌(生活在植物中的真菌)也可以显著分解植物垃圾。该项目旨在了解气候、真菌内生菌群落和植物凋落物的化学成分的变化如何影响凋落物的分解速度。这项研究的发现将阐明真菌内生菌如何影响整个生态系统规模的碳移动。该研究员将通过数据科学研讨会扩大未被充分代表的群体的参与，并将通过互动气候变化课程与当地中学生接触。真菌内生植物群落将在炎热和干燥或寒冷和潮湿的环境之间相互移植，以了解气候变化如何在一年的时间里影响真菌内生真菌分解凋落物。该项目将通过利用高通量分子方法来测试三个假说，它们将如何预测(1)气候，(2)真菌内生菌群落，以及(3)它们的相互作用如何影响凋落物质量损失，这是一种分解的衡量标准。为此，气候变量(降水、温度)和真菌内生真菌群落的特征(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，以确定最好地解释气候梯度上凋落物分解速率差异的因素。该项目将确定控制真菌内生菌--植物界中普遍存在的共生体--如何分解植物凋落物并对陆地碳循环做出贡献的遗传、生态或生物地球化学因素。该研究员将通过赞助科学家接受与真菌内生菌基因表达和凋落物化学表征相关的指导，并通过指导、研讨会和气候科学教育促进代表不足的群体的更广泛参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.