Assistant Professor of Biology Lorena Torres-Martínez and colleagues recently had their research work titled "Microbial mediation of salinity stress response varies by plant genotype and provenance over time" accepted for publication in the journal Molecular Ecology.
Torres-Martínez and collaborators used Schoenoplectus americanus genotypes recovered from two 100+ year coastal marsh seed banks that were then used to test whether native soil microbes could confer salt tolerance, and whether this tolerance was influenced by the specific genetic constitution and history of S. americanus populations. The research team discovered that microbial mediation of plant stress can depend on the provenance of the soil microbes, on the genotype and evolutionary history. Together these findings indicate that evolutionary dynamics can shape the fate of coastal marsh ecosystems by modifying how microbes confer plant tolerance to pressures linked to global change.
