Plant endophytes: bacterial and fungal associations that improve plant health, facilitate soil nutrient transformations and sustain soil ecosystems

我的研究调查植物和微生物之间的有益联系，以了解这些关系如何影响植物健康，营养循环和生态系统的可持续性。本研究的主要重点是植物内生菌的研究。内生菌是与植物形成有益关系的细菌和真菌，生活在植物组织中，如根、茎或叶，而不会对植物造成伤害。许多不同类型的细菌和真菌与植物形成内生关系，但对这些关系的多样性和特异性知之甚少。了解植物内生菌很重要，因为这些细菌或真菌可以帮助植物生长，克服炎热和干旱等压力，甚至清理环境。因此，我的主要工作重点是发现和表征从原生植被到农业作物再到土地复垦植物的一系列植物物种中的内生菌（主要是根内生菌）。了解哪些细菌或真菌形成内生关联，将有可能了解特定微生物和植物之间是否存在独特的关联。这也将使我们能够评估植物内生菌的功能作用。例如，我过去的一些研究表明，某些内生真菌可以提高小麦等作物的耐热性和耐旱性。

My research investigates beneficial associations between plants and microorganisms so as to understand how these relationships affect plant health, nutrient cycling and ecosystem sustainability. A primary focus of this work is to study plant endophytes. Endophytes are bacteria and fungi that form beneficial associations with plants, living inside plant tissues such as roots or stems or leaves, without causing harm to the plant. Many different types of bacteria and fungi form endophytic associations with plants, but little is know about the diversity and specificity of these relationships. It is important to understand plant endophytes because these bacteria or fungi can help plants grow, over come stresses like heat and drought, and even clean up the environment. Thus a main focus of my work is on the discovery and characterization of endophytes (primarily root endophytes) in a range of plants species from native vegetation to agriculture crops to plants used for land reclamation. Understanding which bacteria or fungi form endophytic associations will make it possible to learn if these are unique associations between specific microbe and plants. It will also allow us to assess the functional role of endophytes in plants. For example, some of my past research demonstrated that certain endophytic fungi improve heat and drought tolerance of crops like wheat. My research will focus on the following questions: 1) What unique plant endophytes exist in agricultural crops and plants used for land reclamation? 2) What soil or plant factors influence and regulate endophytic root bacteria associations with plants? 3) Do bacterial root endophytes interact with fungal root endophytes, and if so can these interactions be exploited to influence plant health and growth? 4) What is the relative importance of endophytes to the plant microbiome? 5) Can plant endophytes be utilized as biotechnology tools to increase crop growth or to help land reclamation activities? Collectively these studies will advance our understanding of how specific associations between plants and endophytic root bacteria or fungi affect plant growth, thus leading to healthy and sustainable soil ecosystems. My research is important as discovery of new plant endophytes offers an opportunity to identify unique plant-microbe associations that can be used to benefit Canadian society by increasing food production or help to clean up the environment. Another key outcome of this research is the training of 4PhD and 2 MSc students.