Linking structure to function in plant-fungal symbioses

Many plants form symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which increase access to soil mineral nutrients such as phosphorus. Recently, the supervisory team has shown that plants also frequently form symbioses with Mucoromycotina "fine root endophytes" (MFRE), and that these associations may be distinct from those with AMF in

their responsiveness to environmental change and in their ability to transfer organic nitrogen alongside mineral phosphorus. However, much of the biology of the plant-MFRE symbiosis remains to be established. In particular, we do not yet know how the distribution and functional significance of this association is affected by environmental

change, such as nitrogen availability, or by changes in temperature and CO2. This project will address this fundamental knowledge gap, combining field studies with laboratory-based methodologies including isotope tracer, sequencing and imaging techniques