Characterizing a tripartite plant - fungus - bacteria symbiosis important to peatland carbon and nitrogen cycling
EMSL Project ID
49810
Abstract
The importance of plant-microbiome systems on terrestrial carbon and nitrogen processes is perhaps most pronounced in Sphagnum dominated ecosystems, which occupy 3% of the Earth's land surface yet store approximately 25% of terrestrial carbon as recalcitrant organic matter (i.e., peat)[1] . The moss plant Sphagnum is a keystone genus in these ecosystems, with its biological function and abiotic environment responsible for much of the primary production and recalcitrant dead organic matter. Biological nitrogen fixation is an important nutrient input for these ecosystems, yet our understanding of Sphagnum and N2-fixation by associated diazotrophs is limited. We currently don't know the molecules being exchanged or their rates, or if this is a true beneficial symbiosis. Our lab has developed a synthetic community approach whereby strains (200 moss, 2 fungal, and 20 cyanobacteria) can be placed within direct interaction. Results from our preliminary data, including an EMSL Rapid Access proposal, demonstrate our synthetic community approach is suitable for mass spectrometry imaging (e.g. MALDI FTICR MSI), fluorescence-based imaging techniques (including confocal and super resolution fluorescence microscopy), and meta-transcriptomics (both bacteria and moss). Herein, we will address which pathways and metabolites are being produced and exchanged among the tripartite interaction using a meta-transcriptomics, meta-proteomics and MSI approach at the organismal scale that is complemented by a sub-cellular quantification of gene expression using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and N exchange via secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) approach. Ultimately, we wish to characterize the tripartite interaction and quantify N exchange.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2017-10-01
End Date
2018-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Co-Investigator(s)
Team Members