Grass-Epichloë Interactions in Current and Future Climates

入侵物种正在重新定义地理学的经典边界，并影响生态系统的功能。它们是人类世的一个决定性特征。欧洲起源的几种相关草种在管理的草原中具有全球意义。这些物种已受到密集的育种计划和销售积极在整个温带世界。它们在整个北美和南美，澳大利亚，新西兰，非洲和亚洲部分地区种植。它们经常逃避种植，与本地物种进行激烈竞争，据称减少了生物多样性，损害了生态系统的功能。这些草种的成功，无论是在种植内外，大部分是由于它们的进化历史与有益的，无性的，垂直传播的内生真菌物种在Epichloë属。这些草-真菌共生体对农民来说是非常理想的，但却危及邻近未管理的生态系统。面对正在发生的剧烈气候变化，一个悬而未决的问题是，这些共生体是否会继续具有经济重要性和生态入侵性。我有四个近期目标。1.建立一个统计模型，说明微生物组、代谢组、蛋白质组和Epichloë浓度在不同年份和生长季节随温度和湿度的变化。2.建立蚜虫食草动物种群动态与宿主植物微生物组、代谢组、蛋白质组、Epichloë浓度、温度和湿度之间关系的统计模型。3.确定决定Epichloë感染在促进禾本科植物入侵性中的作用的主要驱动变量。4.创建一个蚜虫-草- Epichloë相互作用的生物学详细数学模型。我将通过一个长期的多地点实验来研究温度和降水对这种草-真菌内生菌相互作用的影响，从而实现这些目标。这些地点位于沿着一条800 km的样带，从安大略的米尔顿开始，终止于伊利诺伊州的卡本代尔。该样带的平均生长季节温度变化为12°C，生长季节降水量差异为246 mm。在生长季节的每个月，我都会描述草的微生物组、蛋白质组、代谢组和Epichloë浓度。我还将描述有和没有Epichloë内生菌的草的入侵性和草食动物抗性。最后，我将进一步开发一个数学模型的草内生菌的相互作用，我最近发表的使用细节，从这个实验工作。

Invasive species are redefining the classical boundaries of biogeography and affecting ecosystem functioning. They are a defining feature of the Anthropocene. Several related grass species of European origin are globally significant in managed grasslands. These species have been subjected to intensive breeding programs and marketed aggressively throughout much of the temperate world. They are cultivated throughout North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and parts of Asia. They routinely escape cultivation to compete aggressively with native species, purportedly reducing biodiversity and impairing ecosystem functioning. Much of the success of these grass species, both inside and outside of cultivation, is due to their evolutionary history with beneficial, asexual, vertically transmitted endophytic fungal species in the genus Epichloë. These grass-fungal symbioses are highly desirable to farmers but endanger neighbouring unmanaged ecosystems. In the face of dramatic ongoing climatic change, an open question is whether or not these symbioses will continue to be as economically important and ecologically invasive. I have four near-term objectives. 1. Create a statistical model of the microbiome, metabolome, proteome and Epichloë concentrations across years and within the growing season, as a function of temperature and moisture. 2. Create a statistical model of the relationship between aphid herbivores population dynamics as a function of the host plant's microbiome, metabolome, proteome, Epichloë concentrations, temperature and moisture. 3. Identify the main driving variables that determine the role of Epichloë infection in promoting the grasses's invasiveness. 4. Create a biologically detailed mathematical model of the aphid-grass- Epichloë interaction. I will accomplish these objectives using a long-term multi-site experiment to investigate the effects of temperature and precipitation on this grass-fungal endophyte interaction. These sites are located along an 800 km transect beginning in Milton, Ontario, and terminating in Carbondale, Illinois. This transect spans a 12°C change in average growing season temperature and 246 mm difference in growing season precipitation. Each month during the growing season I will characterize the grasses' microbiome, proteome, metabolome, and Epichloë concentrations. I will also characterize the grasses' invasiveness and herbivore resistance with and without the Epichloë endophyte. Finally, I will further develop a mathematical model of the grass-endophyte interaction that I recently published using details from this experimental work.