ESIIL Postdoctoral Associate

Project Summary

My proposed research would expand on work understanding the spatial patterns and niche characteristics of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Recent interest in niche modeling of AM fungi simultaneously with their plant hosts shows there is great potental in extending niche modeling techniques to better understand species interactions (Kivlin et. al., 2023, “Specificity and environmental niche breadth of mycorrhizal fungi may predict their response to global change.” ESA 2023 Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, United States). Current efforts rely heavily on ribosomal small subunit (SSU) or internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences which have been shown to have poor ability to distinguish AM fungi at the genus level (Delavaux et. al., 2021, “Utility of large subunit for environmental sequencing of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: a new reference database and pipeline.” New Phytol, 229:6). I propose a niche modeling effort which will utilize data from curated studies which sequenced ribosomal large subunit (LSU) genes. Additionally I would utilize explicitly phylogenetic analysis to look for evidence of co-evolution or evolutionary conservatism in host-symbiont relationships.

Visit Dr. Rob Ramos's project repository to learn more: Biotic Niche Modeling