An Integrated Study of Metarhizium-Plant Interactions

绿僵菌-植物相互作用的综合研究

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-04030
• 负责人: Bidochka, Michael
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: Brock University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=713891
• 关键词: Integrated; Study; Metarhizium; Plant; Interactions

Sustainable agricultural practices aimed at feeding a growing world population and the associated problems arising from climate change requires optimizing resource use and reducing the environmental impacts of food production. One way to assist in achieving these goals is to integrate beneficial microorganisms into plant microbiomes. We plan to study the integration of the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium into the plant root microbiome and its effects on the health of agriculturally important plants. Metarhizium, which resides primarily in the rhizosphere (region of the soil in the vicinity of plant roots), has a world-wide distribution and can be easily recovered from soils. Metarhizium spp. have a dual ecological role: they are both insect pathogens and rhizosphere colonizers. Connecting the lifestyles of Metarhizium both as insect pathogens and as plant root colonizeers, we have shown that the relationship of this fungus to plants is beneficial. We have shown that fungal mycelia from infected insects migrate to plant roots that are then colonized. Subsequently the insect-derived nitrogen is transferred to the plant. We have also shown that this is a symbiotic association where insect nitrogen is provided to the plant by the fungus in exchange for plant carbon (i.e., carbohydrates). Elucidating the association of this fungus with plants will generate alternate ideas of plant-microbe interactions. The overall theme of the proposed research is improvement of plant health by the application of Metarhizium to soils. Our complex interconnected research program will focus on three components of this interaction (1) plant metabolomics , that is, the compounds produced by the plant, including plant immune hormones, (2) Metarhizium strains and their respective metabolome, and (3) the root microbiome. We will accomplish our goals by using analytical chemical techniques and gene sequencing. We anticipate that data collected from using these analytic techniques will allow my lab to elucidate the interactions between microorganisms in the soil, including Metarhizium, the metabolites that Metarhizium produces and the responses by the plant to root colonization by these microorganisms. One basic question is why does the plant allow root colonization by certain beneficial microorganisms such as Metarhizium but responds defensively to pathogenic microorganisms? Does Metarhizium produce compounds that communicate to the plant and how does the plant respond to those compounds? Identifying how Metarhizium work as plant symbionts, and when and why they work, would provide a molecular understanding of the interactions of microbes with plants. Metarhizium have commonalities with other plant root colonizing fungi and we expect our results to have many applications. Our research has implications on plant protection, plant productivity, plant secondary metabolite production and general knowledge of ecological associations in the plant rhizosphere.

旨在养活不断增长的世界人口的可持续农业做法以及气候变化引起的相关问题，要求优化资源利用，减少粮食生产对环境的影响。帮助实现这些目标的一种方法是将有益微生物整合到植物微生物组中。我们计划研究昆虫病原真菌绿僵菌整合到植物根部微生物组中及其对农业重要植物健康的影响。 绿僵菌主要存在于根际（植物根部附近的土壤区域），具有世界范围的分布，并且可以容易地从土壤中回收。绿僵菌属物种具有双重生态作用：它们既是昆虫病原体又是根际殖民者。将绿僵菌作为昆虫病原体和植物根定殖者的生活方式联系起来，我们已经表明这种真菌与植物的关系是有益的。我们已经表明，真菌菌丝体从受感染的昆虫迁移到植物的根，然后殖民。随后，昆虫来源的氮被转移到植物中。我们还表明，这是一种共生关系，其中真菌向植物提供昆虫氮以交换植物碳（即，碳水化合物）。阐明这种真菌与植物的关系将产生植物-微生物相互作用的替代想法。 拟议研究的总体主题是通过将绿僵菌应用于土壤来改善植物健康。 我们复杂的相互关联的研究计划将集中在这种相互作用的三个组成部分（1）植物代谢组学，即植物产生的化合物，包括植物免疫激素，（2）绿僵菌菌株及其各自的代谢组，（3）根微生物组。 我们将通过使用分析化学技术和基因测序来实现我们的目标。我们预计，使用这些分析技术收集的数据将使我的实验室能够阐明土壤中微生物之间的相互作用，包括绿僵菌，绿僵菌产生的代谢产物以及植物对这些微生物根定殖的反应。一个基本的问题是，为什么植物允许某些有益微生物（如绿僵菌）在根部定殖，但对病原微生物却有防御性反应？绿僵菌是否产生与植物交流的化合物，植物对这些化合物有何反应？确定绿僵菌如何作为植物共生体工作，以及它们何时以及为什么工作，将提供微生物与植物相互作用的分子理解。绿僵菌与其他植物根际定殖真菌具有共性，我们期望我们的研究结果有许多应用。我们的研究对植物保护，植物生产力，植物次生代谢产物的生产和植物根际生态协会的一般知识的影响。