Mapping Nutrient Flow through a Plant-Microbe Symbiont System using Stable Isotope Probing under Drought and Salinity Stress
EMSL Project ID
50612
Abstract
Red alder (Alnus rubra) is one of the fastest growing, commercially important, hardwood species for biomass/timber production in North America, and is also involved in a nitrogen-fixation symbiosis with Frankia which form root nodules. These root structures supply nitrogen to not only the tree but surrounding soil system through root exudation. This system has enormous potential to be massively deployed on marginal lands and with enhanced biomass productivity - if key interactions limiting red alder growth and sustainability can be systematically identified and exploited. The use of stable isotope labeled substrates allows for the determination of nutrient flow and flux since the label serves as a tracer from point of entry to biological fate. The advantage of the red alder/Frankia system is the ability to have a single input for carbon (CO2 via photosynthesis), oxygen (O2 via photorespiration) and nitrogen (N2 fixation by Frankia) such that fate of the carbon, oxygen and nitrogen could be traced through the tree, exudates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and bacteria/other soil microbes, without interference by competing uptake mechanisms. This project will develop, integrate and apply a suite of bioanalytical technologies that will provide a mechanistic view of the in situ uptake and fate of stable isotope-labeled substrates within this plant-microbe-soil system under future predicted environmental scenarios of drought and salinity stress.This work will map the flow of carbon and nitrogen through the red alder/Frankia/rhizosphere system and, provide a validated atmosphere-plant-microbe-soil flux balance model to determine the effect of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon fate in the system under scenarios of drought and salinity stress. A corollary outcome is to establish an integrated framework for the determination of nutrient utilization maps and spatio-temporal dynamics at biologically relevant times and conditions, which will provide insight into the mechanisms underlying biological structure, organization and interspecies interactions and how those interactions change when the system experiences drought and/or salinity stress.
Project Details
Start Date
2018-11-08
End Date
2021-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
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