• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Sidebar
IU

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Menu

ScIUConversations in Science at Indiana University

  • Home
  • Home
  • About ScIU
  • Write with Us!
  • Contact ScIU
  • The Writers and Editors of ScIU
  • ScIU in the Classroom
  • Annual Science Communication Symposium
  • Search

Soooo mysterious: The hidden fungi of plants.

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Briana K. Whitaker

Have you ever picked a fallen leaf off the ground and wondered where it came from? Stared at the trees changing colors and losing their leaves above you, as those leaves ultimately find their way to the massive piles young kids like to jump into? Well, ever since I started delving into the strange and wonderful world of plants and the fungi that live on them, I haven’t been able to look at leaves the same way. My research focuses on tiny fungi that live inside of plant leaves. Known as ‘endophytes,’ these little critters form some of the most mysterious associations on the planet. Each plant leaf can be colonized by up to hundreds of different tiny fungi, which grow locally inside the plant tissues. Where do these fungal endophytes come from, I ask? If we can’t see or hear them, how do we determine their effects on the different plants they live on? This is a big dilemma of my research. By extracting DNA from these fungi and using specific stretches of the fungal genome as a target, I am able to collectively identify the fungal inhabitants of my research plants – no matter their size, abundance, or location within a single host.

Nine photographs of petri dishes, each with a different variety of fungus growing in agar. Each dish is labelled with a catalogue number and a date.
Examples of fungal endophytes collected from Switchgrass. These fungi were grown directly from leaves collected from Switchgrass plants. They each represent a unique fungi, grown on nutrient media directly from Switchgrass leaves collected in the field.

One of my main research projects uses Switchgrass as a model system (aka an “example system”) for studying fungal colonizers. Switchgrass is an excellent plant to study for several reasons. Switchgrass is a tallgrass plant species that grows in most states east of the Rockies. It requires very little water or fertilizer in order to grow, yet it can still produce impressive yields of leaf and stem mass. Because of its robust characteristics and widespread distribution in the United States, Switchgrass is currently a top biofuel candidate being studied by the government.

For my research, however, I want to figure out which fungal endophytes live on Switchgrass and why. Do different fungal species live on different varieties of Switchgrass? Just like there are different crop varieties within the same domesticated species (e.g., ‘Herbicide-resistant’ and ‘Sweet’ corn varieties), there are different varieties within the same species of wild, non-crop plants as well. Switchgrass has many natural varieties, but are they colonized by different fungal endophytes? For example, does the Switchgrass variety normally found in southern Indiana interact with different fungi than the Switchgrass variety found in southern Illinois? Or does where they are physically planted determine which fungi they interact with, regardless of what variety they are?

For my research, I work to understand what matters more to plants and their interaction with fungi: who you are, or where you are? I planted replicate plants from three different Switchgrass varieties in three different locations across the Midwest. I used DNA-based techniques to identify the fungal species in Switchgrass leaves. I found that “where you are” matters much more to how these communities of tiny fungi colonize and interact with Switchgrass plants. Most of the Switchgrass plants growing at any of the three study sites were colonized by the same groups, or ecological communities, of fungi. My work has important implications for considering how both agricultural and wild varieties of plant species can live and interact with different fungi, based on where they are being grown. In the future, I would like to explore more how these differences in tiny fungi communities can influence the health and yield of the plants they live on.

Edited by Anna Jessee and Noah Zarr

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related

Filed under: Cutting-Edge Science at IU, Scientific Methods and TechniquesTagged Biology, Ecology, Fungi, Plants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Additional Content

Search ScIU

Categories

Tag cloud

#Education #scicomm animal behavior anthropology archaeology astronomy astrophysics Biology biotechnology Black History Month brain cannabinoids cannabis Chemistry climate change conservation coronavirus COVID–19 Diversity in Science diversity in STEM Ecology environment evolution geology history and philosophy of science infectious disease Interdisciplinary Interview Mental Health methods microbiology neuroscience outreach physics Plants primates psychology Research science communication science education Science Outreach science policy Statistics STEM women in STEM

Subscribe

Receive a weekly email with our new content! We will not share or use your information for any other purposes, and you may opt out at any time.

Please, insert a valid email.

Thank you, your email will be added to the mailing list once you click on the link in the confirmation email.

Spam protection has stopped this request. Please contact site owner for help.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Current Contributors

  • Log in
  • SPLAT
  • ScIU Guides

Indiana University

Copyright © 2022 The Trustees of Indiana University | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Help

  • Home
  • About ScIU
  • Write with Us!
  • Contact ScIU
  • The Writers and Editors of ScIU
  • ScIU in the Classroom
  • Annual Science Communication Symposium
College of Arts + Sciences

Are you a graduate student at IUB? Would you like to write for ScIU? Email sciucomm@iu.edu


Subscribe

Subscribe By Email

Get every new post delivered right to your inbox.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

 

Loading Comments...