Welcome !!!
‘Mutualism’ – cooperative interactions between different species – are central to the survival and reproduction of most organisms on earth, providing essential ecosystem services and playing a fundamental role in the creation and maintenance of biological diversity. Mutualistic symbioses have driven major evolutionary innovations, for example, the emergence of eukaryotes. A huge diversity of mutualisms have emerged and evolved - many forms of symbioses have been described, but many remain a mystery.
The 450-million-years-old Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) mutualism is arguably the world’s most abundant mutualism. The AMF symbiosis is responsible for massive global nutrient transfers. Along with the nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis, these relationships are considered to be the most important terrestrial symbioses ‘that help feed the world’ (Marx, 2004).
Despite their ubiquity, these symbioses follow none of the constraints thought to select for the evolution of mutualism. In particular, horizontal transmission of symbionts among unrelated hosts and multiple symbiont genotypes per host facilitates ‘tragedy of the commons’ (Hardin, 1968). The tragedy is that cooperative partners that supply their hosts with resources indirectly aid competing (non-cooperative) strains colonizing the same individual. As a result, cheaters are predicted to spread at the expense of cooperators, therein destabilizing the mutualism (West et al., 2002). Observations from agricultural systems demonstrate the persistence of less-mutualistic symbionts for both Rhizobia and AM fungi.
Building upon these works, the ECS project will explore cooperation in plant symbioses. It will provide new insights on how plant-microbe interactions shape the ecological processes and evolutionary trajectories of natural and agricultural ecosystems. This project will also seek to identify new symbiotic partners for plants.
This work is anticipated to have a tremendous importance for designing a more ecologically intensive agriculture (Kiers et al., 2008). The project will provide new knowledge and perspectives on the erosion of plant diversity, and its consequences for consortiums of symbiotic microorganisms. As root symbionts are crucial components of ecosystem functioning and in the maintenance of global soil fertility, our work is likely to have a broad impact in soil protection policy, plant breeding research and the design of sustainable agricultural systems
Hardin G. 1968. The tragedy of commons. Science 162:1243-1248
Marx J. 2004. The roots of plant-microbe collaborations. Science 304:234-236.
Kiers E. T., R. R. B. Leakey, A. Izac, J. A. Heinemann, E. Rosenthal, D. Nathan and J. Jiggins. 2008. Ecology. Agriculture at a crossroads. Science 320:320-321.
West S. A., E. T. Kiers, I. Pen and R. F. Denison. 2002. Sanctions and mutualism stability : when should less beneficial mutualists be tolerated ? J. Evol. Biol. 15:830-837
The 450-million-years-old Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) mutualism is arguably the world’s most abundant mutualism. The AMF symbiosis is responsible for massive global nutrient transfers. Along with the nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis, these relationships are considered to be the most important terrestrial symbioses ‘that help feed the world’ (Marx, 2004).
Despite their ubiquity, these symbioses follow none of the constraints thought to select for the evolution of mutualism. In particular, horizontal transmission of symbionts among unrelated hosts and multiple symbiont genotypes per host facilitates ‘tragedy of the commons’ (Hardin, 1968). The tragedy is that cooperative partners that supply their hosts with resources indirectly aid competing (non-cooperative) strains colonizing the same individual. As a result, cheaters are predicted to spread at the expense of cooperators, therein destabilizing the mutualism (West et al., 2002). Observations from agricultural systems demonstrate the persistence of less-mutualistic symbionts for both Rhizobia and AM fungi.
Building upon these works, the ECS project will explore cooperation in plant symbioses. It will provide new insights on how plant-microbe interactions shape the ecological processes and evolutionary trajectories of natural and agricultural ecosystems. This project will also seek to identify new symbiotic partners for plants.
This work is anticipated to have a tremendous importance for designing a more ecologically intensive agriculture (Kiers et al., 2008). The project will provide new knowledge and perspectives on the erosion of plant diversity, and its consequences for consortiums of symbiotic microorganisms. As root symbionts are crucial components of ecosystem functioning and in the maintenance of global soil fertility, our work is likely to have a broad impact in soil protection policy, plant breeding research and the design of sustainable agricultural systems
Hardin G. 1968. The tragedy of commons. Science 162:1243-1248
Marx J. 2004. The roots of plant-microbe collaborations. Science 304:234-236.
Kiers E. T., R. R. B. Leakey, A. Izac, J. A. Heinemann, E. Rosenthal, D. Nathan and J. Jiggins. 2008. Ecology. Agriculture at a crossroads. Science 320:320-321.
West S. A., E. T. Kiers, I. Pen and R. F. Denison. 2002. Sanctions and mutualism stability : when should less beneficial mutualists be tolerated ? J. Evol. Biol. 15:830-837
