Discovering the genetic drivers for host resource allocation between symbionts

植物与各种不同的生物体相互作用，其中许多生物体以植物组织为食以生存。其中一些相互作用可能是互利的，例如丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）获得植物资源以促进其发育，同时也为其宿主提供营养。另一方面，植物也可以与寄生虫相互作用，例如植物寄生线虫。这些微小的动物依赖植物作为食物来源，没有互惠互利。植物可能会同时与这两种生物相互作用，因为超过一半的植物物种是植物寄生线虫的宿主，也是AMF物种的宿主。这两种共生体必须通过操纵宿主植物内的机制将资源导向自己来竞争有限数量的宿主资源（如糖和脂质）。这种机制越来越多地被定义为单个共生体-主机交互，但是缺乏对多个并发共生体如何影响资源分配机制的研究。这一新知识将对自然系统研究的相关性产生广泛的影响。我的初步工作，这个建议提供了强有力的证据表明，宿主植物表达的基因，可能有助于资源的移动到其根系的某些区域，基于其空间与共生体的相互作用。有了这个奖学金，我将区分植物可以将其资源分配给有益和有害共生体的机制，以及两者共有的机制。这对未来努力调整有害和有益共生体之间的资源分配具有重要意义，这可能有可能提高作物产量并有助于粮食安全。通过结合一系列的技术，我将操纵一些选择的基因参与这些机制，以破坏资源分配和概述的影响共生体的健身。我将把地上寄生物整合到我的系统中，以揭示导致寄生物资源损失的常见机制，并更忠实地代表自然生态系统。这将允许比较地上和地下寄生虫利用以获得其食物来源的机制。这一知识将为一套新的控制措施提供机会，同时考虑到它们对有益生物的潜在影响。

Plants interact with a wide range of different organisms, many of which feed from plant tissues in order to survive. Some of these interactions can be mutually beneficial, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that obtain plant resources to fuel their development whilst also contributing nutrients to their host. On the other hand, plants can also interact with parasites, such as plant-parasitic nematodes. These are microscopic animals that are dependent on plants as food sources and provide no reciprocal benefits. Plants will likely simultaneously interact with both of these organisms as over half of the plant species that are hosts to plant-parasitic nematodes are also host to an AMF species. Both symbionts must compete for the finite amount of host resources (such as sugars and lipids) that are on offer by manipulating mechanisms within the host plant to direct resources towards themselves. Such mechanisms are increasingly defined for single symbiont-host interactions, however there is a lack of research on how multiple, concurrent symbionts may impact resource allocation mechanisms. This new knowledge would have wide implications for the relevance of research in natural systems. My preliminary work for this proposal provides strong evidence that a host plant expresses genes that may facilitate the movement of resources to certain regions of its root system, based upon its spatial interactions with symbionts. With this Fellowship, I will differentiate the mechanisms by which a plant can allocate its resources to beneficial and detrimental symbionts, as well as those mechanisms that are common to both. This has important implications for future efforts to tailor the allocation of resources between detrimental and beneficial symbionts, which may have the potential to boost crop yields and aid food security efforts. By combining a range of techniques I will manipulate a select number of the genes involved in these mechanisms to disrupt resource allocation and outline the impacts on symbiont fitness. I will integrate an above-ground parasite into my system to reveal common mechanisms that result in resource losses to parasites and more faithfully represent natural ecosystems. This will allow comparisons between the mechanisms that above- and below-ground parasites utilise to gain access to their food sources. This knowledge will provide the opportunity for a new suite of control measures, whilst considering their potential impacts on beneficial organisms.