Date

February 27, 2025

Time

12:00 pm

Location

ESC 2144

Host: M. Fredrickson

Abstract:

Species interactions underpin key functions of ecological communities like carbon cycling and the water cycle. Microbes can assemble and form communities with each other and in association with hosts. The interactions that occur within the microbiome and with their hosts are complex, not just in terms of variation over time and abiotic environmental context, but also shaped by the community context—what species are present and form part of that interaction. My research will build a conceptual and mechanistic framework embracing the inherent environmental and species complexity that drives host-microbiome community structure and function. I employ a high-throughput experimentation system utilizing the fast-growing, model aquatic plant duckweed (genus Lemna) to explore how microbes mitigate host-plant responses to complex nutrient conditions. First, I empirically test if host-associated communities change plant responses to the main nutritional drivers of plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. I then expand on the roles of host-microbe feedback on plant and microbial community growth by exploring how host-microbe interactions determine the metabolic niche of the hosted microbes. Specifically, I engineer synthetic communities of well-defined microbial isolates to characterize feedback between hosts and their microbiomes that can affect outcomes of higher-order community interactions. Lastly, I examine the ability of microbes to track seasonal changes to their environment and how changes in microbiome function impact their plant hosts. My research will contribute to our broader understanding of the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that drive temporal community dynamics and defining the functional basis of multispecies interactions.