Endophytic root associated fungi in the prairie: distribution and role in dryland

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We found large amounts of non-mycorrhizal root associated fungi (RAF) in the root of field-grown prairie grasses in semiarid Saskatchewan. RAF may be important associates of plants living in extreme environments, where they share root occupation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The abundance of these RAF in asymptomatic plant roots in our region of the Prairie often exceeds that of AM fungi, suggesting that RAF may influence importantly the productivity of native and crop plants under the reduced moisture conditions prevailing in the Canadian Prairie. Recent research in our laboratory suggests that some RAF can improve plant tolerance to drought, an effect that may differ in C3 and C4 plants. We propose to clarify, through greenhouse experiments using local isolates, the effect of RAF on the drought tolerance of native C3 and C4 prairie grasses, but also on main crop species, such as wheat and pulses. We propose DNA analysis, through applications of cloning and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) methods, to define the distribution of the RAF in three important Prairie ecosystems. We will document the community of RAF colonizing the roots of wheat in cultivated fields, of crested wheatgrass in roadsides, and native grasses in prairie remnant ecosystems. We will apply multivariate analyses on data collected through sampling campaigns conducted in the agricultural regions of the Prairie, to identify the environmental drivers of RAF diversity distribution and define possible RAF-AM fungi interactions. This research will set a base line for monitoring the resource in a context of global change, and contribute to the fields of biogeography and landscape ecology, microbial ecology, plant-microbe interaction, agricultural biotechnology development, and has implication in wheat production. Four PhD students will be trained.