Endophyte-Driven Adaptive Plasticity in Land Plants
KEY POINTS- Extended Genome: Researching fungal endophytes as an integral "extended genome" driving adaptive plasticity beyond the host's own capacity.
- Systemic Resilience: Analyzing how endophytic associations reprogram host physiological states to buffer environmental shocks like drought, heat, and frost.
- Building a Resource: Establishing a nation-wide repository of 400–500 isolates from wild Swedish grasses to map the molecular dialogue of local adaptation.
Project overview
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Short summary
Purpose and Vision
We investigate the role of fungal endophytes as a primary driver of adaptive plasticity i.e. the ability of a plant to rapidly adjust its phenotype to fluctuating environments without genetic change. This research explores the "hidden skills" of wild grasses, hypothesizing that their resilience to biotic and abiotic stress is a function of a diverse, co-evolved endophytic microbiome that has been largely depleted in modern agricultural systems.
Biological Framework
Endophytes represent a "black box" of biological diversity, accounting for over 10% of unclassified fungal taxa. Our research moves beyond treating these microbes as mere external additives; instead, we view them as an integral component of the plant’s functional identity.
While domestication and intensification have focused on single-genotype performance, they have unintentionally caused an erosion of the microbial diversity that plants naturally use to buffer environmental shocks. By studying the endophytes of contemporary wild grasses (e.g., Phleum pratense, Lolium pratense), we aim to understand how these organisms reprogram host physiological states -altering root morphology, water-stress responses, and metabolic pathways to enhance survival.
Key Research Objectives
- Diversity and Function: Building a taxonomic and functional atlas of endophytes from wild Swedish grasses to identify novel taxa that drive host resilience.
- Mechanisms of Bioprotection: Testing the capacity of endophyte communities (rather than single isolates) to inhibit virulent pathogens like Fusarium graminearum through systemic signal modulation.
- Stress Buffer Dynamics: Investigating how endophytic associations allow plants to "bounce back" from heat, drought, and frost by quantifying real-time spectral and canopy responses.
- The Extended Genome: Using dual RNA-sequencing to gain functional insights into how endophytes synchronize their activity with host gene expression during environmental challenges.