What Lies Within: Evolution and ecological significance of a common conifer endophyte.
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2015
- End date
- 12/31/2020
- Budget
- 747,840 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRIMEDBIO - Independent projects - Medicine, Health Sciences and Biology | Grant | - | - | 747,840 EUR |
Abstract
A wide variety of micro-organisms live hidden lives inside of plants. These micro-organisms are called endophytes, and often help their hosts survive environmental stress and disease, or can fend off animals and insects keen on eating the plant. Lophodermium piceae is an endophytic fungus found in up to 95% of the needles on spruce trees worldwide. Despite being extremely common throughout the northern Hemisphere, very little is known about this fungus. The iGran project uses molecular genetics to determine if Lophodermium piceae has evolved in tandem with spruce worldwide. Combined efforts with Canadian researchers have shown that European and North American L. piceae actually represent two separate and unique fungal species. In addition, more than 20 scientists have been involved in sampling spruce needles from 33 sites in 18 countries throughout Europe. We have used DNA-based biodiversity inventories to characterize the fungal community diversity across Europe and see that fungal communities track the evolutionary history of their hosts. In addition, we have now isolated thousands of fungi from these spruce needles, including more than 500 representatives of L. piceae. For each L. piceae isolate, we generated genomic 'fingerprints' that allow us to examine the effects of geography and extreme events like the last ice age on the genetic diversity of the fungus. Preliminary analyses suggest that while spruce trees have been genetically shaped by the last ice age, the Lophodermium fungi that grow inside its cells have not. To test whether L. piceae can protect its hosts from diseases and to identify microorganisms it interacts with, we have sequenced fungal DNA from hundreds of healthy and diseased spruce needles and see that the spruce rust fungus is less likely to cause symptoms when L. piceae is present.