Characterizing metabolite exchange and gene expression within a tri-partite plant – fungus -- cyanobacterium interaction using MALDI FTICR Mass Spectrometry Imaging and fluorescence-based techniques
EMSL Project ID
49655
Abstract
Peatbogs are unbalanced ecosystems that gain more carbon than is released making them a critical global sink for carbon. Biological nitrogen fixation is an important nutrient input for these ecosystems that ultimately governs the amount of carbon that can be gained. At the DOE BER funded SPRUCE site, a large-scale peatbog warming and [CO2] manipulation is underway. Within this system, it’s estimated that biological nitrogen fixation accounts for nearly 30% of all nitrogen entering the ecosystem. This is second to only pollution (deposition) that accounts for most of the remaining nitrogen inputs. These ecosystems are dominated by the moss Sphagnum spp. that associate with nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria and fungi with unknown characteristics. We currently don’t know the role of the fungus in the tripartite interaction or the molecules exchanged by the interacting members. Our lab has developed a synthetic community approach whereby strains (200 from the moss, 2 fungal, and 5 cyanobacteria) can be placed within direct interaction. The goal of this Rapid Access proposal is to obtain preliminary data on the spatial specific molecules driving the tripartite interaction via MALDI FTICR-MSI and establish approaches for spatially resolved gene expression analysis using laser capture microdissection (LCM) and other fluorescence-based techniques in EMSL.
Project Details
Project type
Limited Scope
Start Date
2017-01-02
End Date
2017-03-04
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator