NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Priority Effects Within and Between Guilds of Fungal Symbionts

Garces, Kylea Rose, Louisville KY

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This study will untangle the complexities of plant-fungal relationships and the way below-ground fungi assemble. Specifically, as multiple fungi colonize the same plant host, priority effects, or the order in which specific fungal species arrive, may alter the ability of other fungi to colonize, which will have varying outcomes for the host plant. This experiment will manipulate arrival order of different fungal species and across fungal guilds to evaluate both fungal community outcomes and their influence on plant growth, reproduction, and nutrient content. The research outcomes can help to predict the appropriate symbiont to add to a community based on restoration goals. The Fellow will lead efforts to examine traditional grading systems that often induce barriers for diverse individuals in STEM. The Fellow will lead a faculty learning community focused on alternative assessment strategies and then implement these strategies in their own courses; a peer-reviewed education manuscript will be written to enhance teaching and learning at broad scales. Fungal symbionts are ubiquitous in nature and play considerable roles in determining host plant fitness. It is known that priority effects can shape community assembly, especially considering two-species systems, yet less is known about the importance of order arrival as communities become more complex in multi-symbiont interactions. The Fellow will evaluate the order of arrival of fungi within an abundant native grass species, Schizachyrium scoparium, across North America to determine how mycobiome community assembly affects plant hosts. The Fellow will characterize mutualistic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and root endophytic fungi from a prairie restoration. To evaluate within guild assembly, the study will manipulate the order of introduction of unique species of AMF or root endophytes on Schizachyrium in a growth chamber experiment. As plants host multiple symbionts, the Fellow will then look at priority effects across guilds by altering order arrival of AMF, root endophytes and vice versa to evaluate fungal community outcomes and their respective influence on host plant growth. The project will allow the Fellow to hone skills on the mechanisms that drive microbial communities. The broadening participation efforts contribute to classroom settings by improving conventional grading systems and retaining underrepresented minorities in scientific disciplines. 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.