This $300,753 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences will fund research into plant-fungal associations between seagrasses and marine fungi under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050). Over a two-year period from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024, the Regents of the University of California at Riverside will analyze publicly available data and conduct culture-dependent and -independent methods to characterize the phenotypic and functional diversity of seagrass-associated fungi isolated from their collection. They will compare fungal genomes to terrestrial relatives to identify genetic adaptations related to the land-to-sea transition and predict ecological roles when associated with seagrasses. The goals are to advance understanding of the evolutionary history and genetic potential of seagrasses to form associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, an important group for plant colonization of land. Insights gained could inform seagrass restoration and transform understanding of fungal symbioses evolution and ecology in marine ecosystems.
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