PI CBGP: María Soledad Sacristán Benayas

Ecological and Molecular Factors Involved in Fungal Endophytism and Pathogenesis

PI CEPLAS: Marcel Bucher

Project summary:

The objective of this study is to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying the mutualistic interactions between fungal endophytes and host plants, and how edaphic factors affect it. Endophytic fungi confer a range of benefits to plants, including improved growth, enhanced tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and increased nutrient uptake. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions are not well understood. The study will focus on the endophytic fungus Colletotrichum tofieldiae as a model system, and will use a combination of isotopic labelling, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and genomic approaches to investigate the exchange of compounds between the fungus and the host plant. The research will be conducted under different soil conditions and with different plant genotypes to determine the effects of these factors on the mutualistic interaction. We will answer the following questions: whether endophytic fungi obtain nutrients from the host plant in exchange for the benefits they provide, whether the exchange of molecules depends on the N-P status of host plant and/or soil, and whether the mechanisms of interaction are conserved across different plant species and fungal taxa. Furthermore, the study aims to evaluate the impact of plant-fungus molecular communication and exchange on the composition and function of the root-associated microbiome.