This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.
The research and training plan is entitled "Beneficial root-associated fungi in the maintenance and regeneration of a tropical oak forest in northwest Costa Rica." Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi are beneficial plant-associated fungi that are common in nature but relatively rare in tropical forests. When they do occur in the tropics, EM fungi are often associated with dominant plant species. The purpose of this study is to determine the role the EM fungal community plays in maintaining a Costa Rican oak forest dominated by the species Quercus oleoides. Direct sequencing is used to identify and classify the EM fungal species.
