Course Syllabus: EFB 428/628 -- Mycorrhizal Ecology

Dr. Tom Horton

Required Textbook -- Mycorrhizas: Anatomy and Cell Biology, Peterson and Melville. Available at the Follets Orange Bookstore in Marshall Square.

 

Note: Syllabus is under construction and will remain so all semester!

Week of

Lecture Topic

Reading

Lab Activity

Jan 12

General overview lecture notes in pdf

Trudell Mycorrhiza Parts I, II, III, IV (click on each Roman numeral for all for parts in this series.

  1. General Overview
  2. Set up "Bioassay I" experiment - Pine inoculated with Suillus/Rhizopogon and grown under varying fertilizer levels

Jan 19

Ectomycorrhizae

Agerer R (2001) Exploration types of ectomycorrhizae. Mycorrhiza 11:107-114

For LAB: In the laboratory with Agassiz
  1. Harvest EM root tips and group by morphology from "Bioassay II" experiment
  2. Quantify EMF on pine seedlings
  3. Culture EMF from EM roots harvested from Bioassay II
  4. Water Bioassay I seedlings

Jan 26

Molecular Identification

Horton TR (2002) Molecular approaches to ectomycorrhizal diversity studies: variation in ITS at a local scale . Plant and Soil 244: 29-39.

A one page summary of this paper is due Thursday, January 29

  1. DNA Lab I: Extraction from Bioassay II EM root tips
  2. Morphotype descriptions of EM roots from Bioassay II EM
  3. Water Bioassay I seedlings

Feb 2

Ericaceae: Ericoid/Arbutoid/Monotropoid mycorrhizae

Björkman, Erik (1960) Monotropa hypopitys L. - an epiparasite on tree roots. Physiologia Plantarum 13: 308-327.
  1. DNA Lab II: Finish extractions
  2. Check EMF cultures
  3. Clearing/staining AM roots
  4. Section EM roots and find Hartig net and mantles from the different morphotypes
  5. Water/fertilize seedlings

Feb 9

Orchid mycorrhizae

Girlanda et al. 2006. Inefficient photsynthesis in the Mediterranean orchid Limodorum abortivum is mirrored by specific assocation to ectomycorrhizal Russulaceae. Molecular Ecology 15: 491-504.

  1. DNA Lab III: PCR amplification fungal DNA
  2. Section orchid roots and find mycorrhizal structures
  3. Inoculate Bioassay I seedlings with spore slurries

Feb 16

Arbuscular mycorrhizae NEW

Bever et al. 2001.Abuscular mycorrhizal fungi: More diverse than meets the eye, and the ecological tale of why. Bioscience 51: 923-931.
  1. DNA Lab IV: Run gels to check for PCR products
  2. Clear and stain AM roots to observe fungi AMF
  3. Inoculate seedlings one more time

Feb 23

Finish AM lecture (Feb. 16)

Review and discussion about diveristy in mycorrhizal systems (covering lectures to date; Chs.1, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 plus all of the papers we have read and discussed)

(including Ectendomycorrhizae and Dark Septate Endophytes (DSE) -- read Chs. 2 & 8)

  1. DNA Lab V: Set up restriction digests
  2. Observe and draw fungal structures in AM roots from last week.
  3. Water/fertilize seedlings

Mar 2

Exam I: Mycorrhizal symbioses: diversity and function

Instructions for the RFLP lab report

RFLP Lab Report Due in Lecture on Thursday, March 19 (a gift to the Tuesday section from your Thursday section colleagues!)

  1. DNA Lab VI: Run RFLP gels Analyzing RFLP gels & Identify your unknown EMF - put the gel image in your notebook fully labeled
  2. Discuss results and things to include in a lab report due with your notebook
  3. Water seedlings

Mar 9

 Spring Recess -- NO CLASSES THIS WEEK    

Mar 16

Slide show on Mushrooms of the Oregon Dunes

Overview of final paper

Harrison MJ 2005. Signaling in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Annual Review of Microbiology 59:19-42.

Pawlowska T, Taylor JW 2004. Organization of genetic variation in individuals of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Nature 422: 733-737.

  1. Notebooks and RFLP lab report are due!!!!
  2. Discuss ideas for paper with lab group
  3. Water/fertilize seedlings

Mar 23

No lecture, trip to Cornell -Tuesday Lab group

Meet at loading Illick Hall loading dock at 11am.

We will be back on campus by 4:00pm.

No discussion, trip to Cornell - Thursday Lab group

Meet at loading Illick Hall loading dock at 11am.

We will be back on campus by 4:00pm. 		Visit Pawlowska and Harrison labs

Mar 30

Meet in lab to harvest seedlings - Tuesday section only (This lab will run from 11:00am - 3:20pm to be sure that there is enough time to harvest the seedlings)

Meet in lab to harvest seedlings - Thursday section only (This lab will run from 11:00am - 3:20pm to be sure that there is enough time to harvest the seedlings)
  1. Harvest bioassay seedlings
  2. Collect data to answer: "How much fertilizer is too much fertilizer for EMF?"

Apr 6

 Mycorrhizal Networks - a discussion

Nara K. 2006. Ectomycorrhizal networks and seedling establishment during eraly primary succession. New Phytologist 169: 169-178.

  1. Turn in paper outline
  2. Sampling EM in the field (Meet at Illick loading dock at 12:30 for trip)

Apr 13

 The role of forest communities on mycorrhizal inoculum -- Mikey O'Brien

Edible Fungi as Non Timeber Forest Products

(PDF of lecture)

  1. Clean and sort EM from the field samples
  2. Use EM and AM root samples to review for lab practical
  3. Paper due for peer review. Bring one copy for each student in your group

Apr 20

Ethnomycology (PDF of lecture)

Edible fungi around World (PDF of lecture)

  1. Notebooks due
  2. Lab practical: Identifying mycorrhizal types and structures
  3. Return peer-reviewed papers to authors (Final draft due May 5th)

Apr 27

Wrap up discussion/review

No Class Thursday --GREAT SEMESTER! THANKS!!!

No Labs

 

Grading - EFB 428

Midterm exam = 100 points (22%)

Lab notebook (25pts for lab notes/organization + 25 pts for RFLP lab report) = 50 points (11%)

Paper/discussion summaries (10 at 5pts each) = 50 (11%)

Term paper (5 - 10 pages) = 100 points (22%)

Lab practical = 50 points (11%)

Final Exam = 100 points (22%)

Total = 450 points

 

Grading - EFB 628

Midterm exam = 100 points (20%)

Paper presentations/discussion = 150 points (30%)

Lab practical = 50 points (10%)

Manuscript (Truffle seedling root tip IDs) = 100 points (20%)

Final Exam = 100 points (20%)

Total = 500 points

Undergrad Paper (see suggested topics below info on grad paper)

A Term paper will be due on the day of our final.  This will be a 5 - 10 page review paper covering a general topic such those listed below (literature cited is not included in the page count). Point totals and things to include for the various sections are as follows:

Graduate Student Paper

Grad students will submit a research plan (as in what you would turn into your major professor and committee) for your approach to the following:

At South Campus there are many Thuja occidentalis (Cupressaceae) saplings and small trees. There are also many Populus deltoides (Salicaceae) growing. Come up with a plan to delineate the mycorrhizal associations of these two plants and how they might interact below ground when growing in close proximity to each other. Your plan should include some background in an introduction, the specific questions you would like to address. the methodology. expected results and a timeline. Supporting literature and a citation list is a critical component of this research plan. Your approach can be based on a field approach, a lab approach, or ideally, both.

 

 

Some Suggested Topics for the Undergrad Paper