NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Taiwan

Thomas Daniel C, Walla Walla WA

Investigators

Abstract

-------- This action funds Daniel Thomas of the University of Oregon to conduct a research project in Biology during the summer of 2013 at the laboratory of Dr. Yu-Ming Ju at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. The project title is "Exploring a New Dimension of Plant Health: Benign and Beneficial Fungi in Living Woody Plants." The host scientist is Dr. Yu-Ming Ju. This research investigates the diversity of wood-inhabiting fungal endophytes in trees in the cloud forests of Taiwan. To do so, direct Polymerase Chain Reaction methods are adapted for use on wood-inhabiting fungal endophytes using genetic barcodes to estimate the species richness in wood of members of Xylariaceae. The ecological links between termites and Xylaria endophytes in the cloud forest are also being investigated, and preliminary experiments on methods of foliar inoculation with Xylaria spores are being conducted. This work will increase our knowledge of fungal endophytes, which are found in every plant ever sampled, including all human food plants. Endophytes represent a fast-evolving, quickly and widely dispersing network of micro-organisms that may act as a mitigating influence on plants in the face of disturbance, pathogens, and extreme climate variation. The effects of endophytes are vastly complex and one cannot assume mutalisms; however, it is reasonable to hypothesize that plant health is controlled in much the same way as human health: as the result of complex microbial community interactions. The possible consequences for tropical forestry and agriculture are significant. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the results of this research will be disseminated at agricultural industry conferences and made available to interested government land management and agricultural agencies both in the United States, Taiwan, and to pertinent academic journals.