NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Understanding microbiome impact on plant performance in a warming climate.

Mcmillan, Hannah Mary, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Stressors such as high temperature, drought, and salt can lead to reduced crop yields and billions of dollars of crop loss each year. To feed a growing global population, innovative new agricultural methods must be developed to improve plant stress tolerance and crop yield. One emerging method to meet these goals and increase crop performance in a warming climate is through design and application of climate-selected microbial communities; however, we currently have little basic understanding of how existing microbial communities (microbiomes) influence plant performance at elevated temperature. Through this proposed research, the fellow will investigate how microbial communities change inside or on the surface of a plant at elevated temperature, and the impact those changes have on plant health. In parallel, the fellow will work to improve food security through the Campus Pantry Collaborative (CPC). The CPC provides a direct outlet to share scientific findings from this project with a non-scientific audience and an opportunity to bridge the gap between social and scientific efforts to improve food security. This project combines molecular, multi-omic, and mathematic modeling approaches to address knowledge gaps in “temperature-microbiome-plant” triangular interactions and reveal underlying principles of emergent plant and microbiome function(s) in warming conditions. Previous research suggests that microbiomes can perform specific functions in defined abiotic conditions. Separate findings show that plant physiology, development, and phenotype can be dramatically influenced by abiotic factors, such as elevated temperature. By simultaneously examining changes in microbial composition and plant performance at elevated temperature this project has the potential to reveal new principles of host-microbiome-environment interactions that could apply even beyond plant systems. Additionally, this research will be used to improve current predictive models for microbiome changes that can be directly tested in crop species. Through this project, the fellow will develop a multidisciplinary research skill set and will gain additional skills in scientific mentoring and lab management. The fellow will also refine these skills through involvement with the CPC. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.