DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Consequences of Indirect Defensive Traits on Microbial Diversity

植物已经进化出许多有趣的方法来保护自己免受它们的敌人，病原体（通常是微生物，如真菌）和食草动物（例如昆虫）。植物用于防御的一种方法是通过提供食物或庇护所来吸引那些抑制病原体或食草动物（它们敌人的敌人）的物种。这项研究通过对以树叶上的有害真菌为食的螨虫进行实验，探讨了提供食物和住所的有效性。提供食物的有效性将通过花外蜜腺（叶子上分泌糖并吸引螨虫和蚂蚁的小腺体）的实验来探索。提供庇护所的有效性将通过叶软骨实验来探索，叶软骨是叶子底部的微小结构，可以容纳食真菌的螨虫。本研究中研究的花外油桃和domatia的性状分布非常广泛：它们存在于许多常见的树木和受欢迎的观赏灌木上，以及棉花、咖啡和葡萄等作物植物上。此外，这些性状、螨虫和真菌之间的相互作用在农业中被用作减少植物病原体损害的一种方式，而无需使用有害的杀菌剂。因此，了解它们的进化和生态可以告诉我们如何管理当地生态系统中的物种相互作用，以及我们的作物和城市景观。本科生将参与该项目并在研究中得到指导。同样，也有一个项目将这些作品传达给中学生。

Plants have evolved many interesting ways to defend themselves against their enemies, pathogens (generally microbes such as fungus) and herbivores (insects, for example). One approach plants use for defense is to attract species that suppress pathogens or herbivores -- enemies of their enemies -- by offering food or shelter. This research explores the effectiveness of providing food and shelter through experiments that focus on mites that eat harmful fungi on leaves. The effectiveness of providing food will be explored by experiments with extrafloral nectaries, small glands on leaves that secrete sugar and attract mites and ants. The effectiveness of providing shelter will be explored by experiments with leaf domatia, tiny structures on the undersides of leaves that house fungus-eating mites. The traits studied in this work, extrafloral nectarines and domatia, are very widespread: they are present on many common trees and popular ornamental shrubs, as well as on crop plants such as cotton, coffee and grape. Additionally, the interactions between these traits, mites and fungi are used in agriculture as a way to decrease plant pathogen damage without the use of harmful fungicides. Thus, understanding their evolution and ecology can inform how we manage species interactions in our local ecosystems as well as in our crops and urban landscapes. Undergraduate students will be involved in this project and mentored in research. Likewise, a program is in place to communicate the work to middle school students.