Characterising controls of carbon flow from trees into mycorrhizal fungi

这个项目旨在提高我们对地下碳封存的认识。在森林生态系统中，植物光合作用的很大一部分被转运到根相关的共生外生菌根真菌中。因此，森林树木的真菌伴侣是宝贵的碳汇。阻碍森林土壤地下碳核算的一个问题是缺乏对光合作用固定糖如何传递给根相关微生物的遗传控制的了解。该项目旨在识别和表征在外生菌根植物与真菌相互作用中运输碳的糖转运体，并研究这些转运体如何受到二氧化碳升高的影响。它还可能识别出可以与桉树宿主配对的共生真菌的分离株，以最大限度地提高碳封存和森林生产力。

This project aims to improve our understanding of below-ground carbon sequestration. A significant portion of plant photosynthate is shuttled to root-associated mutualistic ectomycorrhizal fungi in forest ecosystems. Therefore, fungal partners of forest trees are valuable carbon sinks. One problem impeding below-ground carbon accounting in forest soils is a lack of understanding concerning the genetic control of how photosynthetically fixed sugars are passed to root-associated microbes. This project aims to identify and characterise the sugar transporters that shuttle carbon in ectomycorrhizal plant–fungal interactions and investigate how these are affected by elevated carbon dioxide. It may also identify isolates of mutualistic fungi that could be paired with eucalypt hosts to maximise carbon sequestration and forest productivity.