Linking structure to function in plant-fungal symbioses

Many plants form symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)
which increase access to soil mineral nutrients such as phosphorus.
Recently, the supervisory team has shown that plants also frequently
form symbioses with Mucoromycotina "fine root endophytes" (MFRE),
and that these associations may be distinct from those with AMF in
their responsiveness to environmental change and in their ability to
transfer organic nitrogen alongside mineral phosphorus. However,
much of the biology of the plant-MFRE symbiosis remains to be
established. In particular, we do not yet know how the distribution and
functional significance of this association is affected by environmental
change, such as nitrogen availability, or by changes in temperature
and CO2. This project will address this fundamental knowledge gap,
combining field studies with laboratory-based methodologies including
isotope tracer, sequencing and imaging techniques