Real-time plant evolution in a multitrophic community

• Applicant: Professor Shuqing Xu, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology ; Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438887884

Understanding the process of evolution in multitrophic communities represents a fundamental and outstanding challenge in evolutionary biology. In nature, plants are threatened by herbivores and simultaneously colonized by diverse microorganisms. Accumulating evidence suggests that the plant microbiota changes the host’s defense against herbivores and is altered by herbivory. However, it remains unknown to what extent interactions between plants and their microbiota affect the process and trajectory of plant evolution under herbivore pressure.This project aims to close this knowledge gap by investigating the process and mechanism of herbivory-driven plant evolution in real-time. We will perform “selection and resequence” experiments using the giant duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza), one of the fastest-growing plants, as a model system. We will use the pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) to impose herbivory pressure on S. polyrhiza populations consisting of 150 natural accessions that represent the majority of genetic diversity in this species. The experiment will be conducted under field conditions and last for 6 months, which corresponds to more than 30 generations for S. polyrhiza. We will quantify the extent to what herbivory drives changes in the plant phenotype, allele frequency, and microbiota. We will further assess the fitness consequences of the observed changes in plant traits and allele frequencies, and investigate whether and how changes in the plant microbiota alter the herbivory-imposed selection on plant defenses. Using a combination of experimental evolution and cutting-edge genetic and genomic tools, this research will push the research boundaries in the field of plant-herbivore interaction by elucidating the mechanisms and processes of plant defense evolution in a multitrophic community. The resources generated in this project will not only open new research avenues of plant experimental evolution, but will also accelerate the use of duckweeds for industrial applications.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants