The Ecology and Population Biology of the Fungus Aureobasidium pullulans on Leaf Surfaces

生长在叶片表面的真菌在叶片上的生命周期阶段、在大气中的运输阶段、在同一寄主或物种寄主的另一片叶子上的生长、在不同寄主物种上的生长或在其他基质上的生长之间交替进行。基本上，我们对这些真菌的种群数量一无所知。这项研究的最终目标是为苹果叶片表面上的类似酵母的真菌——普鲁兰金黄色葡萄球菌（auobasidium pululans）——建立一个模型。为了为人口统计学研究提供基础，本文提出了进一步发展分子方法来就地追踪普鲁兰种群的所有附生成员。第二，从背景人群中引入歧视，从大肠杆菌中提取的GUS基因将被植入到普鲁兰芽孢杆菌中，从而允许对真菌进行原位显色或荧光检测。活细胞和死细胞将通过活体染色法独立确认。该系统将在受控和非受控系统下进行评估和建模，然后用于验证树冠内不同位置的普鲁兰叶片上存在“源”区域（生长-迁移；生长-死亡+迁移）的假设。该项目对基本生态学（群落过程和结构）和植物病原体的生物控制都有影响。

Fungi that grow on leaf surfaces alternate between a life cycle phase on the leaf, a transport phase in the atmosphere, and growth on another leaf of the same host or host of species, on a different host species, or on some other substrate. Essentially nothing is known quantitatively about the demography of these fungi in situ. The ultimate goal of this research is to produce a model for the yeast-like fungus, Aureobasidium pullulans, on apple leaf surfaces. To provide the foundation for the demographic study, the further development of molecular methods to track all epiphytic members of the A. pullulans population in situ is proposed. Second, to discriminate introduced from background populations, the (GUS) gene from E. coli will be installed into A. pullulans thereby allowing the detection of fungus chromogenically or fluorogenically in situ. Live versus dead cells will be confirmed independently by a vital staining method. The system will be evaluated and modelled under controlled and uncontrolled systems and then used to test the hypothesis that "source" areas (growthimmigration; and growthdeath + emigration) exist for A. pullulans on leaves at different positions within the tree canopy. The project has implications for both basic ecology (community processes and structure) and for the biological control of plant pathogens.