Eat in or eat out? The role of plant communities for microbial metabolic activity

植物群落组成对微生物群落组成影响较大。最近，我们发现泥炭地植物功能群与特定的微生物群落有关（J Ecol 103:925-94）。目前尚不清楚的是，植物是否创造了一个环境，选择了专门针对植物特定资源（如渗出物或植物凋落物）的微生物群落。作为第一步，本项目将研究植物物种组成与微生物群落之间的联系。密切的植物-微生物联系可能导致微生物对植物特定资源的专一化（即适应），导致负启动，最终增加泥炭地碳汇能力的稳稳性。缺乏特定的植物-微生物联系可能表明微生物是多面手，这表明植物群落不会影响碳汇强度。这个博士项目的结构是首先在分子水平上确定植物群落（功能）组成和微生物组之间的联系。接下来，该项目旨在评估泥炭地微生物群落的功能特征，并将解决后者是否在功能上适应当地、植物特异性的条件，而不考虑环境背景的问题。该项目将强调特定植物-微生物联系的存在或缺失如何影响生态系统过程，指导泥炭地保护战略

Plant community composition has a large influence on microbial community composition. Recently, we have shown that peatland plant functional groups are associated to specific microbial communities (J Ecol 103:925-94). What is not understood is if plants create an environment that selects for microbial communities that specialize on plant-specific resources (i.e. exudates or plant litter). As a first step, this project will study the link between plant species composition and the microbial community. A close plant-microbe link could entail microbial specialisation (i.e. adaptation) on plant-specific resources, causing negative priming, ultimately increasing the robustness of the peatland carbon sink capacity. The absence of specific plant-microbe links could indicate the microbes are generalists, suggesting the plant community to not impact the carbon sink-strength. This PhD project is structured to first determine the link between plant community (functional) composition and the microbiome at a molecular level. Next, the project aims to assess the functional identity of peatland microbial communities, and will address the question as to whether the latter are functionally adapted to the local, plant-specific, conditions, irrespective of environmental context. This project will highlight how the presence or absence of specific plant-microbe linkages affects ecosystem processes, guiding peatland conservation strategies