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

我们发现大量的非菌根根相关真菌（RAF）在半干旱萨斯喀彻温省的野外生长的草原草的根。RAF可能是生活在极端环境中的植物的重要伙伴，在那里它们与丛枝菌根（AM）真菌共享根系。 这些RAF在我们地区的草原无症状的植物根部的丰度往往超过AM真菌，这表明RAF可能会影响重要的本地和作物的生产力下，在加拿大草原普遍存在的水分减少的条件下。 我们实验室最近的研究表明，一些RAF可以提高植物对干旱的耐受性，这种效果在C3和C4植物中可能有所不同。 我们建议澄清，通过温室实验，使用当地的菌株，RAF对本地C3和C4草原草的耐旱性的影响，但也对主要作物品种，如小麦和豆类。 我们建议DNA分析，通过应用克隆和末端限制性片段长度多态性（TRFLP）的方法，以确定RAF在三个重要的草原生态系统的分布。 我们将记录英国皇家空军在耕地小麦的根部，路边的冰草，以及草原残留生态系统中的原生草。 我们将应用多变量分析收集的数据，通过在大草原的农业地区进行的采样活动，以确定RAF多样性分布的环境驱动因素，并定义可能的RAF-AM真菌的相互作用。 该研究将为全球变化背景下的资源监测奠定基础，为植物地理学与景观生态学、微生物生态学、植物-微生物相互作用、农业生物技术发展等领域做出贡献，并对小麦生产具有重要意义。 将培养4名博士生。

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.