Impact of plant-microbe interactions in the phyllosphere on terrestrial ecosystem functions

叶际植物-微生物相互作用对陆地生态系统功能的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05608
• 负责人: LaforestLapointe, Isabelle
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Université de Sherbrooke
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=745017
• 关键词: Impact; plant; microbe; interactions; phyllosphere

Plant-associated microbial communities play a key role in plant physiology, metabolism, and plant species coexistence. The summed area of the phyllosphere (i.e., aerial surfaces of plants, including leaves) is estimated at ~ 4 x 108 km2 globally and is colonized by a great diversity of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and micro-eukaryotes. Yet, very few studies have provided an integrative inter-kingdom (i.e. beyond bacterial communities) perspective of plant-microbe interactions and their role in driving terrestrial ecosystem functions such as productivity or resilience to global change. My work has demonstrated that tree leaf microbial diversity can influence plant ecosystem productivity, hinting at an unexpectedly important role for leaf microbes in terrestrial ecosystem functions. The bio-engineering of host-microbe interactions has the potential to shape the future of agriculture, silviculture, and medicine, but much remains to be done to understand and manipulate the processes driving plant-microbe interactions. The long-term goal of this research program is to identify and manipulate the mechanisms by which plant-microbe interactions support key terrestrial ecosystem functions such as resilience to global change, productivity, and resistance to foliar diseases. The short-term objectives are to (1) characterize the temporal changes in leaf microbial communities; (2) quantify the effects of abiotic stresses (e.g. nutrient limitation) on plant-microbe interactions and their feedbacks on plant productivity; and finally (3) manipulate synthetic microbial inocula to improve plant resistance to foliar diseases. By using a combination of observational and manipulative experiments with synthetic microbiota, my research program will provide a unique mechanistic understanding of plant-microbe interactions, which is key to developing microbial bio-engineering tools to improve plant resistance to foliar diseases and reduce the use of chemicals that threaten public health. This original research program proposes a unique exploration of microbial community response to changes in abiotic conditions, therefore offering a ground-breaking resolution of the roles of host-microbe interactions for ecosystem functions in a changing climate. In light of the socio-economic value of trees and of the negative impacts of agricultural chemicals on human population health, developing an alternative to improve resilience to global change and fight foliar diseases is an important research priority. My research program will test the prediction of key ecological theories that have applications in agriculture and forestry, and will allow for more accurate forecasting of the impacts of global change scenarios on terrestrial ecosystem functions. The results of this program will benefit scholars from various research domains (e.g. microbiology, plant biology), plant producers (e.g. agriculture, silviculture), as well as public health.

植物相关微生物群落在植物生理、代谢和物种共存中起着关键作用。叶层圈（即植物的空气表面，包括叶子）的总面积估计为全球约4 × 108平方公里，并被多种微生物定植，包括细菌、古细菌、病毒和微真核生物。然而，很少有研究提供植物-微生物相互作用的综合王国间（即超越细菌群落）视角及其在推动陆地生态系统功能（如生产力或对全球变化的适应能力）中的作用。我的工作证明了树叶微生物多样性可以影响植物生态系统的生产力，这暗示了树叶微生物在陆地生态系统功能中的重要作用。宿主-微生物相互作用的生物工程有可能塑造农业、林业和医学的未来，但在理解和操纵驱动植物-微生物相互作用的过程方面仍有许多工作要做。该研究项目的长期目标是确定和操纵植物-微生物相互作用支持关键陆地生态系统功能的机制，如对全球变化的恢复力、生产力和对叶面疾病的抵抗力。短期目标是：(1)表征叶片微生物群落的时间变化；(2)量化非生物胁迫（如营养限制）对植物-微生物相互作用的影响及其对植物生产力的反馈；最后(3)操纵合成微生物接种提高植物对叶面病害的抗性。通过对合成微生物群的观察和操作实验的结合，我的研究项目将提供对植物-微生物相互作用的独特机制理解，这是开发微生物生物工程工具以提高植物对叶面疾病的抗性和减少威胁公众健康的化学品使用的关键。这个原创的研究计划提出了微生物群落对非生物条件变化的响应的独特探索，因此提供了宿主-微生物相互作用在气候变化中生态系统功能中的开创性解决方案。鉴于树木的社会经济价值和农用化学品对人类健康的负面影响，开发一种替代品以提高对全球变化的抵御能力和防治叶面疾病是一项重要的研究优先事项。我的研究计划将测试在农业和林业中应用的关键生态理论的预测，并将允许更准确地预测全球变化情景对陆地生态系统功能的影响。该计划的成果将使来自各个研究领域（如微生物学、植物生物学）、植物生产者（如农业、林业）以及公共卫生的学者受益。