Global diversity and ecosystem functions of plant-microbe symbioses

Arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) are the most widespread symbiosis between higher plants and fungi, and have major impacts on terrestrial ecosystem processes, including biogeochemical cycling and the diversity and productivity of plant communities. Fungi which form AM have been assumed to comprise the phylum Glomeromycota. However, we have shown that fungi which form the distinctive 'fine root endophyte' (FRE) AM morphotype are actually members of the phylum Mucoromycota, which diverged from the Glomeromycota over 700 million years ago, before the colonization of land by plants. Although we know that FRE are globally distributed, and can be abundant within ecosystems, we know almost nothing about the diversity, ecology or ecosystem function of the fungi involved. However, evidence suggests that FREs and Glomeromycota have different interactions with the environment and may be functionally distinct. In this project you will investigate the diversity and composition of FRE globally, and key environmental factors determining their abundance and distribution. In order to understand the ecological function of FREs, you will assemble genomes of FREs from environmental metagenomes. The assembled genomes will used to investigate the presence of traits associated with key biogeochemical cycling processes, so that the ecological significance of FRE can be established.
Methodology:
Initial analysis of existing DNA databases will be used to investigate diversity and distribution of FRE and Glomeromycota across habitats and the ecological drivers of their distribution. Existing field sites in use in parallel projects will be used for more detailed analysis of FRE distribution, such as seasonal variation, plant species preferences and responses to land use and management. Metagenome sequencing will be used to reconstruct genomes of FRE, to enable analysis of the potential contribution of FRE to soil biogeochemical processes.