Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2002

Hawkes Christine V, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2002. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for a recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden his/her scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations. The research and training plan is entitled "Effects of plant roots, mycorrhizal fungi, and rhizosphere bacteria on soil carbon cycling." The aim of this research is to elucidate how interactions among plants, arbuscular mycorrhizae, and rhizosphere bacteria affect carbon cycling both locally and at the ecosystem level. This requires a combination of DNA-based microbial community characterization, engineered bacterial reporter gene systems to detect specific carbon compounds, traditional isotope techniques and 13C PLFA for following the flow and fate of carbon, and an experimental design incorporating different rhizosphere communities from congeneric native and introduced plant species in CA and the UK. The results of this work will add to our understanding of microbial interactions in the rhizosphere and their consequences, improve our ability to predict system-level responses to global change, and add to our capacity to manage biological invasions.