International Research Fellowship Program: Interactions Among Tropical Plants, Herbivores, Pathogens and Endophytic Fungi

0401957 VanBael国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。 该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。真菌内生菌是生活在健康植物组织内部而不是表面的微生物。在所有采样的植物中都发现了内生菌，但对内生菌如何与植物及其天敌相互作用知之甚少。最好的研究内生菌系统是那些温带，驯化草。在这里，内生真菌是垂直传播的（从母体到种子），并通过产生阻止食草动物的化合物来保护它们的宿主。然而，在热带地区，对内生真菌的生态和进化作用的研究才刚刚开始。与更好地研究的草系统相反，热带内生菌高度多样，水平传播（通过孢子），显示宿主植物亲和力，并表现出抗病原体活性。PI将研究内生真菌如何改变植物/草食动物/病原体之间的相互作用Cassidine甲虫（Cassidinae：科）和它们的宿主植物（Convulvulaceae/Solanaceae）在巴拿马。选择这些生物作为模型系统是因为我们对它们的行为、分布、宿主特异性和化学生态学有广泛的背景知识。此外，初步收集的寄主植物材料表明，它们的内生菌是常见的，多样性和显示寄主植物的亲和力。这项研究将首次研究热带系统中植物，内生菌和食草动物之间的相互作用。主办机构（STRI）是进行这项研究的理想场所，因为它需要STRI和巴拿马大学的几个实验室小组的投入和设施，STRI与巴拿马大学保持着科学合作协议。

0401957VanBaelThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Sunshine A. VanBael to work with Dr. Nelida Gomez at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.Fungal endophytes are microorganisms that live inside, rather than on the surface, of healthy plant tissue. Endophytes have been found in all plants sampled, but little is known about how endophytes interact with plants and their natural enemies. The best studied endophyte systems are those with temperate, domesticated grasses. Here, the endophytic fungi are vertically transmitted (from mother to seed) and protect their hosts by producing compounds that deter herbivores. In tropical areas, however, investigation into the ecological and evolutionary roles of endophytic fungi has just begun. In contrastto the better studied grass systems, tropical endophytes are highly diverse, are horizontally transmitted (via spores), show host-plant affinities, and exhibit anti-pathogen activity. The PI will study how endophytic fungi modify plant/herbivore/pathogen interactions between Cassidine beetles (Cassidinae: Chrysomelidae) and their host plants (Convulvulaceae/Solanaceae) in Panama. These organisms were chosen as a model system because we have extensive background knowledge about their behavior,distribution, host-specificity and chemical ecology. Moreover, preliminary collections of the host plant material indicate that their endophytes are common, diverse and show host-plant affinity. This research will be the first to study interactions between plants, endophytes and herbivores in a tropical system. The host institution (STRI) is an ideal place to pursue this research because it requires input and facilities from several lab groups at STRI and the University of Panama, with which STRI maintains a scientific cooperation agreement.