Effect of genetic perturbations on spatial heterogeneity and co-occurrence patterns in the maize mycorrhizosphere microbiota interacting with soil

该项目关注的是与陆地生命相关的一个复杂特征：植物-微生物-土壤相互作用以及相互作用伙伴的相互适应，其复杂性远未完全了解。我们的目标是首先阐明与菌根玉米相关的微生物群是如何被基因型和环境塑造的，然后使用还原论的方法来揭示这些相互作用在菌根圈（MZ）中存在的相互依赖关系和分子机制。只有对这一复杂性状进行解剖，揭示导致其形成的精确遗传变异，才能重建MZ系统，并有针对性地培育具有改良性状的新植物，从而使作物受益，改善土壤质量。该项目将研究植物-土壤相互作用和植物性能中涉及的植物因子如何在宏观和微观水平上影响MZ系统中根-微生物-土壤相互依赖。将使用表现出系统遗传扰动的玉米基因型。总体假设是寄主植物及其微生物群之间的营养和代谢相互作用是由MZ在根-土壤连续统上传播的空间化学梯度决定的，导致植物相关微生物群的变化，从而影响寄主植物的性能。我们特别感兴趣的是(1)研究丛枝菌根（AM）和MZ中微生物群落组装和动态的反馈回路，(2)进一步阐明与土壤质量（水分和养分含量）和寄主植物性能以及微生物群的作用的相互作用，以及(3)研究与AM共生相关的微生物群如何影响植物-土壤关系。这将包括AM及其微生物群、土壤和叶片水势、蒸腾速率以及磷酸盐和干旱胁迫耐受性之间的关系。

This project focuses on a complex trait relevant to terrestrial life: the triad of plant-microbiota-soil interactions with mutual adaptation of interacting partners, the complexity of which is far from being fully understood. Our goal is to first elucidate how the microbiota associated with mycorrhizal maize is shaped by genotype and environment, and then use reductionist approaches to uncover the existing interdependencies and molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions in the mycorrhizosphere (MZ). Only if this complex trait can be dissected to reveal the precise genetic variations that led to its formation can the MZ system be reconstructed and targeted for breeding novel plants with improved traits to benefit the crop and improve soil quality.The project will investigate how plant factors involved in plant-soil interactions and plant performance influence root-microbiota-soil interdependence in the MZ system at macro and micro levels. Maize genotypes that exhibit genetic perturbations of the system will be used. The overarching hypothesis is that nutritional and metabolic interactions between host plants and their microbiota are determined by the MZ propagating spatial chemical gradients across the root-soil continuum, leading to shifts in the plant-associated microbiota and thus affecting host plant performance. We are particularly interested in (1) investigating the feedback loops underlying microbial community assembly and dynamics in the arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and the MZ, (2) further elucidating interactions with soil quality (water and nutrient content) and host plant performance and the role of microbiota, and (3) examining how microbiota associated with AM symbiosis influence plant-soil relationships. This will include the relationships between AM, its microbiota, soil and leaf water potential, transpiration rates, and phosphate and drought stress tolerance.