Fungicide and fertilizer-mediated changes in prairie plant-foliar fungal endophyte interactions

Plants harbor a diverse group of microbes that play various roles in mediating plant fitness. One such group of microbes includes foliar endophytic fungi that live inside all parts of plant leaves. Because some of these fungi have a wide variety of beneficial effects on plant hosts, it is vital to understand how human activities, such as the use of agricultural products, impacts the ecology of these fungi in off-target ecosystems. Here I explored the effects of fungicide exposure on endophyte diversity in an experimental prairie, the Philips Tract, and tested the effects of soil fertilizers on the relationship between endophytes and their hosts. To measure fungicide effects on fungal diversity, fungal isolates were cultured and fungal DNA was sequenced from leaves of Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans, Monarda fistulosa, Penstemon digitalis, and Pycnanthemum virginianum from control and fungicide-treated plots. Additionally, isolated fungi were screened for auxin and ammonia production and phosphate solubilization ability to determine potential plant growth-promoting phenotypes. To test the effects of fertilizers on these plant-fungal interactions, greenhouse plants were inoculated with fungal isolates and grown under control and fertilized soil conditions. Results from this study found that S. nutans had a significant decrease in fungal richness in fungicide-treated plots, fungicide did not affect fungal composition, two isolates produce auxin, all isolates produce ammonia, no isolate could solubilize phosphate, and that an Alternaria sp., Nemania sp., Hypoxylon sp., and Phoma sp. significantly increased change in height of their respective plant hosts only in either control or fertilized conditions. This study has thus highlighted the potential impacts that neighboring agricultural activity may be having on aboveground plant-fungal relationships in nearby prairie systems.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Ecol, Evol, Conservation Biol

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Brown, Noah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Yannarell, Anthony
• Dalling, James
• Heath, Katy

• Fungal Endophytes
• Prairie Ecology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Noah Brown

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125637

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F125637