CAREER: The Role of Common Mycorrhizal Networks in the Establishment, Environmental Change, and Persistence of an Invasive Plant Species in the Tallgrass Prairie

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。这项工作将研究真菌如何影响美国最昂贵的环境问题之一-入侵物种。世界上大多数植物都为生活在根部的菌根真菌提供糖分。作为回报，菌根真菌在土壤中搜寻矿物质营养，并将其提供给植物宿主。而在土壤中，真菌经常遇到，并殖民于邻近的根系，连接植物的菌根网络。这项工作将研究菌根网络如何影响加拿大蓟，或“美国最糟糕的杂草”和本土草原植物之间的相互作用。该研究还将研究与加拿大蓟有关的菌根网络是否改变了土壤真菌群落的组成。最后，这项工作将调查，如果这种变化使加拿大蓟坚持在草原长期。研究人员将培训第一代和代表性不足的少数民族大学生和高中生，解决国家需要培训多元化的STEM劳动力。作为职业活动的一部分，研究人员还将开发和广泛传播植物科学课程材料的多层次的大学课程。最后，研究人员将提供专业发展的环境科学教师从人口比例偏低的学生高的地区。教师将学习如何将规定性的实验练习转化为基于探究的活动，教授科学的本质。这些活动将有助于研究人员实现研究和教学的平衡。拟议的工作将把共同的菌根网络（CMNs）纳入现有的理论和假设，植物入侵，社区结构和功能的丛枝菌根真菌在自然界中。该研究将研究CMN在促进引进的外来物种1）在新栖息地建立，2）改变生物环境，3）在引进地区持续存在方面的机制作用。利用稳定同位素示踪，研究人员将通过研究CMN内的碳供应和氮转移机制，研究建立入侵物种的第一个也是最重要的相互作用，即与本土植物的竞争。在一项使用下一代Illumina MiSeq测序的实地研究中，她将研究入侵物种如何通过利用CMN改变丛枝菌根真菌群落。最后，PI将测试CMN在允许加拿大蓟通过植物土壤反馈持续存在方面的作用。该项目将提高大学生的植物和科学素养与课程为基础的研究经验，其结果协同通知研究。此外，PI将为K-12科学教师提供环境科学和生物学探究式教学的专业发展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This work will study how fungi affect one of the most expensive environmental issues in the US - invasive species. Most plants in the world feed sugars to the mycorrhizal fungi living in their roots. In return, the mycorrhizal fungi forage the soil for mineral nutrients and provide them to their plant hosts. While in the soil, the fungi often encounter, and colonize a neighboring root system, connecting the plants in a mycorrhizal network. The work will investigate how mycorrhizal networks affect interactions between Canada Thistle, or “the worst weed in the US,” and native prairie plants. The research will also examine if mycorrhizal networks connected to Canada Thistle change the makeup of the soil fungal community. Finally, the work will investigate if this change enables Canada Thistle to persist in prairies long-term. The researcher will train first-generation and under-represented minority college and high school students, addressing a national need to train a diverse STEM workforce. As part of the CAREER activities, the researcher will also develop and broadly disseminate plant science course materials for multiple levels of the college curriculum. Finally, the researcher will provide professional development to environmental science teachers from areas with high populations of underrepresented students. Teachers will learn how to transform prescriptive lab exercises into inquiry-based activities that teach the nature of science. These activities will assist the researcher in attaining a career that is balanced by both research and teaching.The proposed work will incorporate common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) into existing theories and hypotheses about plant invasions, community structuring, and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in nature. The research will examine the mechanistic role of CMNs in facilitating introduced, exotic species to 1) establish in new habitats, 2) change the biotic environment, and 3) persist within introduced areas. Using stable isotope tracing, the researcher will examine the first and most important interaction in establishing invasive species, competition with native plants, by examining the mechanisms of carbon provisioning and nitrogen transfer within CMNs. In a field study using Next-Generation Illumina MiSeq sequencing, she will examine how invasive species alter arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities by utilizing CMNs. Finally, the PI will test the role of CMNs in allowing Canada Thistle to persist through plant-soil feedbacks. The project will improve plant and scientific literacy of college students with course-based research experiences whose results synergistically inform the research. Additionally, the PI will provide professional development to K-12 science teachers on inquiry-based teaching in environmental science and biology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.