Life on leaves: modeling the ecology and evolution of plant-microbe interactions

叶子上的生命：模拟植物与微生物相互作用的生态和进化

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-07079
• 负责人: Kembel, Steven
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: Université du Québec à Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=739299
• 关键词: Life; leaves; modeling; ecology; evolution

Plant-microbe interactions may have important effects on the ecology and evolution of plants, but our understanding of patterns of plant-microbe associations and the processes responsible for these patterns are still in their infancy due to the recent development of molecular methods to study the biodiversity of microbes in-depth. The long-term objective of my research program is to understand the ecology and evolution of plant-microbe interactions - what microbes live on leaves, what functions do they carry out, and what is their importance for their plant hosts. The short-term goal of my research program is to use the plant phyllosphere (microbes on leaf surfaces) as a model system to understand how associations between plants and microbes have evolved across the plant tree of life, to identify the sources of microbial communities on leaves and the ecological processes that govern their diversity, and to determine how different communities of microbes may mix together to determine the function of their plant hosts. My lab will take a multi-scale approach that will combine broad-scale surveys and analyses of plant-associated microbial communities to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes responsible for the interaction of plants and their associated microbial communities, along with manipulative experiments in the field to understand the mechanisms of plant-microbial interactions and their importance for the plant host. We will quantify microbial diversity by sequencing microbial DNA directly from leaves using cutting-edge molecular biology and bioinformatics methods. The proposed research will greatly expand our understanding of the mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions and their importance for plant and ecosystem function along broad spatial and environmental gradients. In addition to testing fundamental hypotheses about the ecology and evolution of plant-microbe associations, this research program will quantify the importance of plant-associated microbial communities for the plant host, and will allow improved management and engineering of the plant microbiome to improve plant health and ecosystem function.

植物-微生物相互作用可能对植物的生态学和进化产生重要影响，但由于最近发展的分子方法深入研究微生物的生物多样性，我们对植物-微生物协会的模式以及负责这些模式的过程的理解仍处于起步阶段。我的研究计划的长期目标是了解植物-微生物相互作用的生态学和进化-什么微生物生活在叶子上，它们执行什么功能，以及它们对植物宿主的重要性。我的研究计划的短期目标是利用植物的叶际（叶表面的微生物）作为一个模型系统，以了解植物和微生物之间的关系如何在植物生命树中进化，以确定叶上微生物群落的来源和控制其多样性的生态过程，并确定不同的微生物群落如何混合在一起，以确定其植物宿主的功能。我的实验室将采取多尺度的方法，将结合联合收割机大规模的调查和植物相关的微生物群落的分析，以了解生态和进化过程负责植物及其相关的微生物群落的相互作用，沿着在现场的操作实验，以了解植物-微生物相互作用的机制及其对植物宿主的重要性。我们将使用尖端的分子生物学和生物信息学方法，通过直接从叶子中测序微生物DNA来量化微生物多样性。该研究将极大地扩展我们对植物-微生物相互作用机制及其对植物和生态系统功能重要性的理解，沿着广阔的空间和环境梯度。除了测试有关植物微生物协会的生态学和进化的基本假设外，该研究计划还将量化植物相关微生物群落对植物宿主的重要性，并将允许改善植物微生物组的管理和工程，以改善植物健康和生态系统功能。