$1.5M grant will create global macro-network of plant-fungal research

LAWRENCE — A new project led by the University of Kansas will bring together scientists throughout the world who study the interactions between plants and microscopic fungi — interactions that drive processes such as the building of soils, the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and the productivity of plants. 

These processes are critical to life on Earth but mostly unseen and taken for granted. Scientific study of plants and fungi has been largely siloed, with few connections among the research groups studying individual species and the groups testing their importance to global processes. Connecting groups working at these different scales is key to understanding how ecosystems work — and how ecosystem reactions to environmental shifts may affect climate change. 

A new $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will support the creation of a global transdisciplinary network to address these grand challenges within the realm of plant-fungal interactions. This network of networks will be known as MICROBENet^Net, or Multi-Institute Collaborative Research on Belowground plant-microbial interactions Network of Networks. 

The principal investigator is Ben Sikes, a KU associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and an associate scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research. Collaborators include researchers from the University of Tennessee, the University of Michigan and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Sciences.

As a starting point, the project will connect 12 currently siloed national and international networks of plant-mycorrhizal fungal researchers. These groups study a broad range of topics on plants and fungi, from trait ecology and evolution to Earth system modeling. Connecting these networks will build an international foundation to which other research hubs will be added, enabling expansion into other plant-microbial areas.

“One big question for this research is: How much of the extra carbon that humans are producing can the soil system absorb?” Sikes said. “Plants and fungi put carbon into soil, controlling both how much is deposited and how long it’s contained. Plants consume carbon and provide about 30% of what they make — sugars — from photosynthesis into soil for fungi to consume. Fungi make their bodies from this sugar. As roots and fungi die, their bodies become organic matter in the soil that holds the carbon. Prairie soils, for example, are rich in organic matter because of the long soil-building processes of plants and fungi.”

In addition to creating the international online hub, the funding provides for the development of two common colloquia where scientists from these disciplines can meet. It also will provide training, mentorship and support for more than 100 early career researchers on six continents, with a focus on increasing workforce readiness for underrepresented groups.

“One of the biggest impacts of this project will be on the ability of early career researchers to work across disciplines and international boundaries,” Sikes said. “Imagine a graduate student here at KU who has a committee member in the Czech Republic because that person is the world expert on a key aspect of that student’s research subject.”

The researchers could meet by video, or the student could travel outside the U.S. to learn the best research methods, then return and continue to build connections among international research groups.

Sikes said the project would support versatility in new researchers so that they could move fluidly through different terminology among disciplines that historically were barriers to collaboration. These efforts also could help support a multilingual international research community. Early career researchers with experiences in multiple disciplines will be more equipped to make new discoveries in gap areas between disciplines and to adapt to changing workforce needs.

“A graduate student could become just as comfortable talking about the taxonomy of fungi as they are about how fungal mycelia can contribute to a global change model,” Sikes said. “We want to develop young researchers who can talk to the U.N., Congress and international agencies and answer questions about why a specific place, plant or fungus is important — and also about how small variations in their intimate interactions may have big implications for predictions of environmental changes.”

The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research is a KU designated research center and houses a diverse group of ecological research and remote sensing/GIS programs. It also manages the 3,200-acre KU Field Station, a resource for KU studies in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional schools, and for the community and other institutions.