Grass-Epichloë Interactions in Current and Future Climates

当前和未来气候中的草-Epichloâ“相互作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-04581
• 负责人: Newman, Jonathan
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: Wilfrid Laurier University
• 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=745835
• 关键词: Grass; Epichlo; Interactions; Current; Future

Invasive species are redefining the classical boundaries of biogeography and affecting ecosystem functioning. They are a defining feature of the Anthropocene. Several related grass species of European origin are globally significant in managed grasslands. These species have been subjected to intensive breeding programs and marketed aggressively throughout much of the temperate world. They are cultivated throughout North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and parts of Asia. They routinely escape cultivation to compete aggressively with native species, purportedly reducing biodiversity and impairing ecosystem functioning. Much of the success of these grass species, both inside and outside of cultivation, is due to their evolutionary history with beneficial, asexual, vertically transmitted endophytic fungal species in the genus Epichloë. These grass-fungal symbioses are highly desirable to farmers but endanger neighbouring unmanaged ecosystems. In the face of dramatic ongoing climatic change, an open question is whether or not these symbioses will continue to be as economically important and ecologically invasive. I have four near-term objectives. 1. Create a statistical model of the microbiome, metabolome, proteome and Epichloë concentrations across years and within the growing season, as a function of temperature and moisture. 2. Create a statistical model of the relationship between aphid herbivores population dynamics as a function of the host plant's microbiome, metabolome, proteome, Epichloë concentrations, temperature and moisture. 3. Identify the main driving variables that determine the role of Epichloë infection in promoting the grasses's invasiveness. 4. Create a biologically detailed mathematical model of the aphid-grass- Epichloë interaction. I will accomplish these objectives using a long-term multi-site experiment to investigate the effects of temperature and precipitation on this grass-fungal endophyte interaction. These sites are located along an 800 km transect beginning in Milton, Ontario, and terminating in Carbondale, Illinois. This transect spans a 12°C change in average growing season temperature and 246 mm difference in growing season precipitation. Each month during the growing season I will characterize the grasses' microbiome, proteome, metabolome, and Epichloë concentrations. I will also characterize the grasses' invasiveness and herbivore resistance with and without the Epichloë endophyte. Finally, I will further develop a mathematical model of the grass-endophyte interaction that I recently published using details from this experimental work.

入侵物种正在重新定义生物地理学的经典界限并影响生态系统的功能。它们是人类世的一个决定性特征。 欧洲起源的几种相关草种在管理草地中具有全球重要意义。这些物种经过密集育种计划，并在温带世界的大部分地区积极销售。它们在北美和南美、澳大利亚、新西兰、非洲和亚洲部分地区都有种植。它们经常逃避耕种，与本地物种进行激烈竞争，据称减少了生物多样性并损害了生态系统功能。这些草种在栽培内外的成功很大程度上归功于它们与Epichloë属有益的、无性的、垂直传播的内生真菌物种的进化历史。这些草真菌共生体对农民来说是非常理想的，但也危及邻近未管理的生态系统。面对正在发生的剧烈气候变化，一个悬而未决的问题是，这些共生关系是否会继续具有经济重要性和生态破坏性。我有四个近期目标。 1. 创建多年来和生长季节内微生物组、代谢组、蛋白质组和 Epichloë 浓度随温度和湿度变化的统计模型。 2. 创建蚜虫食草动物种群动态与寄主植物微生物组、代谢组、蛋白质组、Epichloë 浓度、温度和湿度函数之间关系的统计模型。 3. 确定决定 Epichloë 感染在促进禾本科植物入侵方面的作用的主要驱动变量。 4. 创建蚜虫-草-Epichloë 相互作用的生物学详细数学模型。我将通过长期多地点实验来研究温度和降水对草真菌内生菌相互作用的影响来实现这些目标。这些地点位于一条 800 公里长的横断面上，起始于安大略省米尔顿，终止于伊利诺伊州卡本代尔。该样线的生长季平均温度变化 12°C，生长季降水量变化 246 毫米。在生长季节的每个月，我都会描述草的微生物组、蛋白质组、代谢组和 Epichloë 浓度。我还将描述有或没有Epichloë内生菌的草类的入侵性和食草动物抗性。最后，我将利用这项实验工作的细节进一步开发我最近发表的草与内生菌相互作用的数学模型。