RUI: Building a molecular foundation for tropical mycorrhizal biology: Sporocarp surveys of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity of Southeast Asian dipterocarp forests

龙脑香科是东南亚低地热带雨林中种类最多、种类最多的树科植物。有500多种植物都依靠根相关外生菌根真菌(ECM)获得土壤养分。外生菌根真菌在世界各地的森林群落中与特定的树木群体进化出了密切的联系，但在大多数低地热带地区很少见。然而，ECM真菌多样性的程度尚不清楚，从而使重要的进化和生态假说的测试变得困难。虽然土壤真菌主要以微观形式存在，但许多真菌在其生命周期的有性阶段形成宏观子实体，从而能够进行分类鉴定，并与分子数据相结合。该项目将利用马来西亚现有的已鉴定和整理的真菌集合，开始建立一个关于龙脑果森林真菌多样性的DNA数据库。这一努力将使土壤和根部的环境样本能够与特定种类的真菌联系起来。此外，将继续以更高的强度收集、鉴定和测序龙脑果林中的真菌子实体，努力识别特定真菌的寄主树种。该项目的更广泛影响包括对当地马来西亚助理和学生的教学和培训。我们还将为外国和马来西亚的研究人员提供在野外收集和鉴定真菌孢子果的强化培训讲习班。孢子果的数字图像将在网上公开提供。由于龙脑果的木材价值也很高，并经历了一些世界上最高的森林砍伐率，这项研究将有助于实施森林保护和再生战略。

The Dipterocarpaceae is the most diverse and abundant tree family in the lowland tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. There are more than 500 species and all depend on root-associated ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi to obtain soil nutrients. Ectomycorrhizal fungi have evolved intimate associations with particular groups of trees in forest communities across the world, but they are rare in most lowland tropical regions. However, the extent of ECM fungal diversity is unknown, thereby making tests of important evolutionary and ecological hypotheses difficult. While soil fungi predominantly exist in microscopic form, many fungi make macroscopic fruiting bodies during the sexual stage of their life cycle, enabling taxonomic identifications that can be coupled with molecular data. This project will make use of an existing collection of identified and curated fungi in Malaysia to begin building a DNA database for fungal diversity in dipterocarp forest. This effort will allow environmental samples of soils and roots to be linked to specific species of fungi. Also, fungal fruiting bodies from the dipterocarp forest will continue to be collected, identified, and sequenced at a greater intensity with efforts to identify host tree species of specific fungi. Broader impacts for this project include the teaching and training of local Malaysian assistants and students. We will also provide an intensive training workshop for foreign and Malaysian researchers in the collection and identification of fungal sporocarps in the field. Digital images of sporocarps will be publicly available online. Since dipterocarps are also highly prized for timber and have experienced some the highest deforestation rates in the world, this research will be useful for implementing strategies for forest conservation and regeneration.