NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Taiwan

--------这项行动资助俄勒冈大学的Daniel Thomas于2013年夏天在台湾台北中央研究院的Yu-Ming Ju博士的实验室进行生物学研究项目。该项目的题目是“探索植物健康的新维度：活木本植物中的良性和有益真菌”。主持会议的科学家是居郁明博士。摘要本研究探讨台湾云雾林树木中栖木真菌的多样性。为此，采用直接聚合酶链反应方法，利用遗传条形码估计木木科成员木材中真菌内生菌的物种丰富度。研究了云雾林中白蚁与内生木蚁之间的生态联系，并进行了木蚁孢子叶面接种方法的初步试验。这项工作将增加我们对真菌内生菌的认识，真菌内生菌存在于每一种植物样本中，包括所有人类食用植物。内生菌是一种快速进化、快速和广泛分布的微生物网络，可以在植物面临干扰、病原体和极端气候变化时起到缓解作用。内生菌的作用非常复杂，人们不能假设是相互作用；然而，合理的假设是，植物健康的控制方式与人类健康大致相同：作为复杂的微生物群落相互作用的结果。对热带林业和农业可能造成的后果是重大的。EAPSI奖学金的广泛影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验；介绍该地区的科学、科学政策和科学基础设施；以及对社会、文化和语言的了解。这些活动符合美国国家科学基金会的目标，即在其科学家、工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期培养国际合作，从而确保美国科学劳动力具有全球意识。此外，这项研究的结果将在农业工业会议上传播，并提供给美国、台湾感兴趣的政府土地管理和农业机构，以及有关的学术期刊。

--------This action funds Daniel Thomas of the University of Oregon to conduct a research project in Biology during the summer of 2013 at the laboratory of Dr. Yu-Ming Ju at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. The project title is "Exploring a New Dimension of Plant Health: Benign and Beneficial Fungi in Living Woody Plants." The host scientist is Dr. Yu-Ming Ju. This research investigates the diversity of wood-inhabiting fungal endophytes in trees in the cloud forests of Taiwan. To do so, direct Polymerase Chain Reaction methods are adapted for use on wood-inhabiting fungal endophytes using genetic barcodes to estimate the species richness in wood of members of Xylariaceae. The ecological links between termites and Xylaria endophytes in the cloud forest are also being investigated, and preliminary experiments on methods of foliar inoculation with Xylaria spores are being conducted. This work will increase our knowledge of fungal endophytes, which are found in every plant ever sampled, including all human food plants. Endophytes represent a fast-evolving, quickly and widely dispersing network of micro-organisms that may act as a mitigating influence on plants in the face of disturbance, pathogens, and extreme climate variation. The effects of endophytes are vastly complex and one cannot assume mutalisms; however, it is reasonable to hypothesize that plant health is controlled in much the same way as human health: as the result of complex microbial community interactions. The possible consequences for tropical forestry and agriculture are significant. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the results of this research will be disseminated at agricultural industry conferences and made available to interested government land management and agricultural agencies both in the United States, Taiwan, and to pertinent academic journals.