NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Priority Effects Within and Between Guilds of Fungal Symbionts

这项行动资助了2023财年的NSF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。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究将解开植物-真菌关系的复杂性和地下真菌的组装方式。具体而言，由于多种真菌定殖于同一植物宿主，优先效应或特定真菌物种到达的顺序可能会改变其他真菌定殖的能力，这将对宿主植物产生不同的结果。该实验将操纵不同真菌物种和跨真菌公会的到达顺序，以评估真菌群落结果及其对植物生长、繁殖和营养含量的影响。研究结果可以帮助预测适当的共生体添加到基于恢复目标的社区。该研究员将努力研究传统的评分系统，这些系统通常会为STEM中的不同个体带来障碍。该研究员将领导一个专注于替代评估策略的教师学习社区，然后在自己的课程中实施这些策略;将编写一份同行评审的教育手稿，以加强广泛的教学和学习。真菌共生体在自然界中普遍存在，并在决定宿主植物适合度方面发挥重要作用。据了解，优先级的影响，可以塑造社区大会，特别是考虑到两个物种的系统，但鲜为人知的是，为了到达的重要性，社区变得更加复杂的多共生体的相互作用。该研究员将评估真菌在北美丰富的原生草种Schizachyrium scoparium中的到达顺序，以确定真菌群落组装如何影响植物宿主。该研究员将描述互惠丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）和根内生真菌从草原恢复。为了评估在行业协会大会，该研究将操纵的顺序，独特的物种AMF或根内生菌的生长室实验中的裂果蕨。由于植物宿主多个共生体，研究员将通过改变AMF，根内生菌的顺序来研究跨行业的优先效应，反之亦然，以评估真菌群落的结果及其对宿主植物生长的各自影响。该项目将使研究员能够磨练驱动微生物群落的机制的技能。扩大参与的努力有助于改善传统的评分系统和保留在科学学科代表性不足的少数群体的课堂设置。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, 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. This study will untangle the complexities of plant-fungal relationships and the way below-ground fungi assemble. Specifically, as multiple fungi colonize the same plant host, priority effects, or the order in which specific fungal species arrive, may alter the ability of other fungi to colonize, which will have varying outcomes for the host plant. This experiment will manipulate arrival order of different fungal species and across fungal guilds to evaluate both fungal community outcomes and their influence on plant growth, reproduction, and nutrient content. The research outcomes can help to predict the appropriate symbiont to add to a community based on restoration goals. The Fellow will lead efforts to examine traditional grading systems that often induce barriers for diverse individuals in STEM. The Fellow will lead a faculty learning community focused on alternative assessment strategies and then implement these strategies in their own courses; a peer-reviewed education manuscript will be written to enhance teaching and learning at broad scales. Fungal symbionts are ubiquitous in nature and play considerable roles in determining host plant fitness. It is known that priority effects can shape community assembly, especially considering two-species systems, yet less is known about the importance of order arrival as communities become more complex in multi-symbiont interactions. The Fellow will evaluate the order of arrival of fungi within an abundant native grass species, Schizachyrium scoparium, across North America to determine how mycobiome community assembly affects plant hosts. The Fellow will characterize mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and root endophytic fungi from a prairie restoration. To evaluate within guild assembly, the study will manipulate the order of introduction of unique species of AMF or root endophytes on Schizachyrium in a growth chamber experiment. As plants host multiple symbionts, the Fellow will then look at priority effects across guilds by altering order arrival of AMF, root endophytes and vice versa to evaluate fungal community outcomes and their respective influence on host plant growth. The project will allow the Fellow to hone skills on the mechanisms that drive microbial communities. The broadening participation efforts contribute to classroom settings by improving conventional grading systems and retaining underrepresented minorities in scientific disciplines.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.