CAREER: How do rhizosphere associated microorganisms and plant host interact to regulate soil microbial processes?

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

Plant, soil, and ecosystem function are linked to the composition of the rhizosphere microorganisms. Nonetheless, few studies address how the plant host-rhizobiome interaction influences ecosystem sustainability and resistance to environmental change. Understanding these relationships is pivotal for anticipating ecosystem responses to environmental change. The PI’s goal for this proposal is to link plant host genetic diversity to rhizosphere microbial composition and its functional gene expression, and determine how the rhizobiome differentially affects plant host function and resistance to drought stress. The PI will use field surveys, greenhouse and manipulative experiments, coupled with new sequencing technology, and use a 10-year multi-site reciprocal Big Bluestem Garden. The PI will work with students and citizen scientists to determine the mechanistic interaction between plant host ecotype and rhizobiome in affecting fitness and drought resistance. Outcomes from this project will include significant advancement in knowledge of the interactive biotic factors between plant host and associated microbiota, and the resultant microbial mediated soil processes. This project will advance the knowledge base to help manage ecosystems substantially under the pressure of global climate change, and to provide students and managers with the fundamental concepts and context to do so. The project will Integrate education with research and extend the impact of this research to the current and future citizens and decision-makers. The PI will focus on how plant host genotype affects the associated rhizobiome, which in turn has functional consequences on soil process and the ecosystem. The PI will work with students and citizen scientists to 1) quantify the relationship between the plant ecotype, associated rhizobiome, and microbially-mediated soil processes; 2) determine the mechanistic interaction between plant host ecotype and rhizobiome in affecting fitness and drought resistance; and 3) determine if the observed plant genetic diversity in plant populations in natural prairies across the Great Plains feeds back to affect rhizobiome composition and soil processes. Understanding the role of ecotypic variation within a foundation plant species on the composition and function of the rhizobiome is critical because dominant plant species exert a strong influence on communities and ecosystem processes. The PI will use Big Bluestem as a model system, and coupled multiple host and microbial omics approaches with a 10-year old reciprocal garden to understand the biotic interactions and ecotypic-based mechanisms that regulate ecosystem processes. The PI will also employ broad field surveys and greenhouse experiments to gain insights into the plant host-rhizobiome interaction. In this project, the PI will integrate ecological genomics, microbiome function, ecosystem processes, and structural modeling, to deepen the understanding of plant host ecotypic influences on microbial processes, and the modulation of rhizobiome in plant host resilience to drought stress. Therefore, this CAREER award will ultimately provide a deeper mechanistic understanding of plant-microbiota interaction; larger-scale spatial, temporal knowledge gain; and dissemination of knowledge to a broad audience. 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.