Mutualismsasdynamicinteractions M t alisms as d namic interactions Todaysquestions: T d ti I. I II. III. IV. V.

Treehoppersandants T h d Mycorrhizal andendophytic fungi Nitrogenfixingbacteria Antsthatfarmfungi Pollination

I.Treehopperandantinteraction(intext) I. Treehopper and ant interaction (in text) A.Whyisthisinteractioncontingent?

Because treehopper benefits from the interaction only if there is predation from spiders. Otherwise they are producing honeydew even though they would gain no benefit from doing such an action. There is no longer any mutualism.

B.Whatwouldhappenovertime,ifspiderdensitywere pp , p y loweveryyearandhoneydewproductionexpensive?
They would produce less and less honeydew because it cost resources and they gain no fitness benefit from producing it. They could also try to push the ants out, an "antagonistic interaction".

II.Plantsandfungi A.Mycorrhizal fungi Fungigrowingonroots Whatdoyounoticeaboutthis What do you notice about this photograph?
- Lot more fungi present than plant root. - Extending access to water and nutrients. - Fungi are connected (physical contacts). They are connecting different plant individuals.

II.Plantsandfungi,continued

Mushroomformingfungiaretheonlyorganisms (besidesafewbacterialspecies)thatcandigestthe ligninfoundinwood.Andingeneral,fungiare li i f di d A di l f i extremelyefficientatdigestinglarge,complexorganic compoundsintosmallmoleculesoratoms. compounds into small molecules or atoms Thebodyofafungushasanextremelyhighsurface areaforabsorbingnutrients.
More surface area means higher rate of absorption.

II.Plantsandfungi,continued

Experiment: Experiment: 1. Growbirch&doug firseedlings0.5mapart,inthefield. 2. Exposedoug firtofullshade,partialshade,orsunlight. p g ,p , g 3. Pulseof13CquantifyhowmuchCfrombirchtodoug fir. Interpretthisgraph I t t thi h
When doug fir is getting less sunlight, it steals more carbon (measured for transfer of sugar) from the birch since they can't produce enough themselves.

Experiment: Growplantseedlingsonculturedishes inthelab,withfungi. TOP:addlabeledsucrosetotheplant, lotsor0phosphatetothefungi. lots or 0 phosphate to the fungi BOTTOM:addlabeledPtothefungus; lotsof0sugartotheplant. lots of 0 sugar to the plant.
In the top, it goes from root to 2 because they could exchange for it. On the bottom, it would go from fungi to 4 because they could exchange for it.

II.Plantsandfungi,continued

Dotheresultsofthesefieldandlabexperiments Do the results of these field and lab experiments supporteachother(independentandcorroborating),or dotheyconflict?Explain. do they conflict? Explain.
Birch-fir: parasitic. Lab experiment: mutualistic. They aren't corroborating. They are conflicting.

Why does the parasitic thing happen? - Maybe fungi wants to keep other tree going as an investment for potentially more resource in the future.

II.Plantsandfungi,continued

When you are just starting out, it might be better not to have a priori hypothesis just so you can observe more.

B.Endophytic B. Endophytic fungi Fungifoundgrowingonleaves,stems Designanexperimenttotestthehypothesisthataleaf D i i t t t t th h th i th t l f endophytic fungusspeciesismutualistic withstranglerfig treeseedlingsinEcuador. tree seedlings in Ecuador. Treatmentgroups:
3 groups, one fungi, one seedling and one with both.

Controlledconditions:
Just randomize to account for differences. Have large sample size. Randomize to control for water, shade, pH, salinity, etc.

Test:
See a priori thing.

Outcomevariable:
Fitness.

III.Nitrogenfixingbacteria III Nitrogenfixing bacteria SpeciesofRhizobium andFrankia colonizerootcellsin legumefamilyplantsandalder Thebacterialcellsconvertmolecularnitrogen(N )to The bacterial cells convert molecular nitrogen (N2) to aminogroups(NH2)thatcanbeusedtobuildproteins, nucleicacids,andotherkeymolecules. , y Nitrogenfixationisextremelyenergyintensive(energyin theformofsugarsisfurnishedbythehostplant). the form of sugars is furnished by the host plant)
There is a complex signaling system between the two groups for this to happen, the question is why do they do this from the perspective of the plant? They would do it to prevent parasitic species imitating the fungi and steal energy from the plant.

IV.Antsandfungi
LeafcuttingantsfarmLeucoagaricus Leaf cutting ants farm Leucoagaricus fungiinundergroundcoloniesandeat them. AfunguscalledEscovopsis feedson Leucoagaricus. Theantscarrybacteriafromthegenus Streptomyces ontheirbodies.Thebacteria p y producecompoundsthataretoxicto Escovopsis. Leafcutterantcoloniesalsocontainbacteriafrom thegenusKlebsiella.Thesebacterialiveinthe fungalgardensandfixatmosphericN2 intoforms thatareusedbytheLeucoagaricus andtheants.

IV.Antsandfungi,continued

DrawandlabeltheassociationsbetweenLeucoagaricus Draw and label the associations between Leucoagaricus (farmedfungi),Escovopis (pathogenicfungus),Klebsiella ( (Nfixingbacterium),Streptomyces (antifungalagent g ), p y ( g g bacterium),andtheants.

V.Pollination Whatisthebasisofthismutualism?

Deceitpollinationinwasp pollinatedorchids Deceit pollination in wasppollinated orchids

Cheatinginyuccamoths