Interactions between microbes and plants or microbes and animals are common. In many cases, both parties benefit from these interactions to the extent that they are dependent on one another and over time their interaction becomes irreversible. This project will bring together researchers working with a range of investigatory tools (such as measuring nutrient exchange, signaling and chemical communication, genomic approach, and mathematical modeling) in a range of systems (including plants and mycorrizal fungi, fungus growing ants, cockroaches with endosymbiontic gut microbes, carnivorous pitcher plants) so that they can lay the groundwork for developing a model that predicts the point of no return: that point at which the individual species in the system lose the ability to function independent of their partner. By seeking connections across the diversity of these systems, we hope to better understand the factors that lead to the development of partner dependence. A major outcome of the project will be the development of training programs at three levels. Outreach and training will be developed for students at Metro High School in Columbus. This diverse urban school serves as a magnet for talented high school students with an interested in STEM fields. Training activities will include summer research projects in affiliated labs. A training program for undergraduate and graduate students at Ohio State University, and hold two workshops, one for faculty and students at regional universities in Ohio and one for people from HBCUs and HSIs.
This project will develop a Biology Integration Institute application that seeks to determine the factors that push microbial symbioses past the point of no return to partner dependence. Partner dependence, which occurs when a symbiont requires an association with a partner for successful reproduction, represents a major evolutionary transition. Symbioses are complex adaptive systems, in which patterns emerge from the interactions and responses among partners and interactions between the partnership and other organisms. The development of symbioses relies on communication below the level of the organism and is often driven by molecules and cellular responses within the partners, but the advantages of the association may relate to community and ecosystem interactions, and the processes by which the partners adapt and respond are governed by evolutionary forces. Understanding and predicting the patterns of dependence and other phenomena within and across taxa requires understanding the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of these systems. While this Design proposal is focused on process instead of products, we expect to produce synthetic papers that will make connections across scales and lay the groundwork for future theory development and work in empirical systems.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
