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

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，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。这项研究将解开植物与真菌关系的复杂性以及地下真菌聚集的方式。具体来说，当多种真菌在同一植物寄主上定殖时，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，这将对寄主植物产生不同的结果。本实验将通过控制不同真菌种类和真菌行会的到达顺序来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。研究结果有助于根据恢复目标预测适当的共生体添加到群落中。该研究员将领导研究传统的评分制度，这些制度往往会给STEM领域的不同个体带来障碍。研究员将领导一个专注于替代评估策略的教师学习社区，然后在他们自己的课程中实施这些策略；将编写一份同行评议的教育手稿，以促进广泛的教与学。真菌共生体在自然界中普遍存在，在决定寄主植物适应性方面起着重要作用。众所周知，优先效应可以塑造群落组合，特别是考虑到两种系统，然而，随着群落在多共生相互作用中变得更加复杂，对秩序到达的重要性知之甚少。该研究员将评估真菌在北美丰富的本地草物种荆芥（Schizachyrium scoparium）中的到达顺序，以确定真菌群落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。本研究将在裂果属植物的生长室内实验中，操纵AMF或根内生植物的独特物种的引入顺序，以评估其内部组装。由于植物寄主多种共生体，研究员将通过改变AMF和根内生菌的到达顺序，以及相反的顺序，来评估真菌群落结果及其各自对寄主植物生长的影响，从而研究不同行会之间的优先效应。该项目将使研究员能够磨练驱动微生物群落机制的技能。扩大参与的努力通过改进传统的评分制度和在科学学科中保留代表性不足的少数民族，对课堂环境作出贡献。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 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.