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

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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.**