Identities of foliar endophytes of conifers

昆虫对加拿大森林的破坏是一个重大的经济和环境问题；昆虫不仅会通过杀死树木来降低最终森林收获的价值，而且森林破坏也是加拿大二氧化碳排放的最大贡献者之一--不列颠哥伦比亚省山松甲虫在不列颠哥伦比亚省的累积损害相当于所有其他来源的二氧化碳排放。在加拿大东部，即使是温和的气温上升也可能导致昆虫和真菌病原体的流行，这些疾病会杀死针叶树并促进森林火灾，如果木材不能迅速收获，就会导致过量的二氧化碳排放。这项计划将开发新的方法来控制东部云杉芽孢虫，这是最具经济破坏性的害虫之一，方法是向树木接种对芽孢虫有毒的有益真菌(内生菌)；降低芽孢虫的生长速度，增加它们对寄生虫和自然细菌病原体的暴露。已知来自白云杉的叶面内生真菌菌株会产生化合物，影响在生长室和田间条件下生长的树木中的云杉芽孢杆菌。以前的研究已经导致了内生菌增强型白云杉幼苗的商业规模生产。已鉴定出产生抗虫代谢产物的红云杉内生真菌，并已成功接种。正在探索的是白松的叶内生植物，它们可能会影响对白松水泡锈病和白松象鼻虫等昆虫的耐受性。疱锈病是一种引进的病原菌，在不列颠哥伦比亚省和美国部分地区已经消灭了高价值的白松。该项目将编纂分类确定性，以记录和开发更多有用的内生真菌菌株，并保护其应用中固有的知识产权(加拿大获得更强的专利保护)。JD欧文有限公司的森林获得了认证，这需要强大的生态知识基础和有限的农药使用，因此本研究对他们具有重要意义。加拿大最具竞争力的森林产品公司的持续兴趣证明了该项目在当前经济困难时期的经济意义。该公司有能力最大限度地利用这些信息的实际应用。

Insect damage in Canada's forests is a major economic and environmental problem; not only do insects reduce the value of the eventual forest harvest by killing trees, but forest damage is one of Canada's largest contributors to CO2 emissions - cumulative damage from the mountain pine beetle in BC is comparable to CO2 release from all other sources. In eastern Canada, even modest temperature increases may precipitate epidemics of insects and fungal pathogens that kill conifers and promote forest fires, resulting in excessive CO2 release if the wood is not harvested quickly. This program will develop new methods to control the eastern spruce budworm, one of the most economically-damaging pests, by inoculating trees with selected beneficial fungi (endophytes) that are poisonous to the budworm; reducing the budworm growth rate and increasing their exposure to parasites and natural bacterial pathogens. It is known that strains of foliar endophytes from white spruce produce compounds that affect the spruce budworm in trees grown in growth chambers as well as under field conditions. Previous studies have led to the commercial scale production of endophyte-enhanced white spruce seedlings. Red spruce endophytes producing anti-insect metabolites have been identified that have also been successfully inoculated. Under exploration are foliar endophytes of white pine that potentially affect tolerance to white pine blister rust and insects such as the white pine weevil. Blister rust is an introduced pathogen which has eliminated the high value white pine in BC and parts of the USA. This project will codify the taxonomic certainty essential for documenting and developing additional useful endophytic fungal strains and protecting the IP inherent in their application (stronger patent protection for Canada). JD Irving Ltd forests are certified, which demands a strong ecological knowledge base and limited use of pesticides, and thus this research is of importance to them. Sustained interest from the most competitive forest products company in Canada demonstrates this program's economic relevance in these tough economic times. This company has the capacity to make most use of the practical applications of this information.