Identities of foliar endophytes of conifers

昆虫对加拿大森林的破坏是一个主要的经济和环境问题;昆虫不仅通过杀死树木减少了最终森林收获的价值，而且森林破坏是加拿大二氧化碳排放的最大贡献者之一-BC省山松甲虫的累积损害与所有其他来源的二氧化碳排放相当。在加拿大东部，即使是温和的温度上升也可能导致昆虫和真菌病原体的流行，这些病原体杀死针叶树并引发森林火灾，如果木材没有迅速收获，就会导致过量的二氧化碳释放。该计划将开发新的方法来控制东部云杉芽虫，这是最具经济破坏性的害虫之一，通过选择对芽虫有毒的有益真菌（内生菌）来种植树木;降低芽虫的生长速度并增加它们对寄生虫和天然细菌病原体的暴露。已知来自白色云杉的叶内生菌菌株产生影响在生长室中以及在田间条件下生长的树中的云杉芽虫的化合物。先前的研究已经导致内生菌增强的白色云杉幼苗的商业规模生产。已经鉴定了产生抗昆虫代谢物的红云杉内生菌，其也已经成功接种。正在探索的是白松的叶内生菌，其可能影响对白松疱锈病和昆虫如白松象鼻虫的耐受性。疱锈病是一种引入的病原体，它已经消灭了BC省和美国部分地区的高价值白松。该项目将编纂分类学确定性，这对于记录和开发其他有用的内生真菌菌株以及保护其应用中固有的知识产权（加拿大更强的专利保护）至关重要。 JD欧文有限公司的森林是经过认证的，这需要强大的生态知识基础和有限的农药使用，因此这项研究对他们很重要。来自加拿大最具竞争力的森林产品公司的持续兴趣表明了该计划在经济坚韧时期的经济意义。该公司有能力充分利用这些信息的实际应用。

Insect damage in Canada's forests is a major economic and environmental problem; not only do insects reduce the value of the eventual forest harvest by killing trees, but forest damage is one of Canada's largest contributors to CO2 emissions - cumulative damage from the mountain pine beetle in BC is comparable to CO2 release from all other sources. In eastern Canada, even modest temperature increases may precipitate epidemics of insects and fungal pathogens that kill conifers and promote forest fires, resulting in excessive CO2 release if the wood is not harvested quickly. This program will develop new methods to control the eastern spruce budworm, one of the most economically-damaging pests, by inoculating trees with selected beneficial fungi (endophytes) that are poisonous to the budworm; reducing the budworm growth rate and increasing their exposure to parasites and natural bacterial pathogens. It is known that strains of foliar endophytes from white spruce produce compounds that affect the spruce budworm in trees grown in growth chambers as well as under field conditions. Previous studies have led to the commercial scale production of endophyte-enhanced white spruce seedlings. Red spruce endophytes producing anti-insect metabolites have been identified that have also been successfully inoculated. Under exploration are foliar endophytes of white pine that potentially affect tolerance to white pine blister rust and insects such as the white pine weevil. Blister rust is an introduced pathogen which has eliminated the high value white pine in BC and parts of the USA. This project will codify the taxonomic certainty essential for documenting and developing additional useful endophytic fungal strains and protecting the IP inherent in their application (stronger patent protection for Canada). JD Irving Ltd forests are certified, which demands a strong ecological knowledge base and limited use of pesticides, and thus this research is of importance to them. Sustained interest from the most competitive forest products company in Canada demonstrates this program's economic relevance in these tough economic times. This company has the capacity to make most use of the practical applications of this information.