{"id":26,"date":"2016-02-17T16:59:11","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T00:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/?page_id=26"},"modified":"2024-09-30T16:22:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T23:22:58","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<br \/>\n<section id=\"builder-section-1456247654651\" class=\"row side-right gutter pad-top\">\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column one \">\n<header>\n<h2>RESEARCH<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Our lab combines evolutionary ecology, quantitative genetics, and genomics to study symbiosis and environmental adaptation. Understanding how symbiotic partners co-evolve and adapt to different environments is ecologically and agriculturally important. For example, this will help us explain how cooperation is maintained in the symbiosis between plants and rhizobium bacteria, which is responsible for half of all current biologically fixed terrestrial nitrogen. In this symbiosis, host plants trade photosynthetically derived carbon for nitrogen fixed by endosymbiotic rhizobium bacteria housed in root nodules.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column two \">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/research\/legume-rhizobium\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-27\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium-396x351.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"238\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium-396x351.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium.jpg 471w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-1710955468083\" class=\"row side-right gutter pad-top\">\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column one \">\n<header>\n<h2>I. EVOLUTION DURING DOMESTICATION<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does symbiosis change during domestication?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We are taking a comparative approach to contrast crops\u2019 ability to benefit from microbial symbiosis to that of their wild relatives by integrating phylogenetics, microbial genetics, quantitative genetics, and genomics. Beneficial microbes that colonize plants play key roles in plant health, yet little is known about how a plants\u2019 ability to benefit from cooperative microbes changes during domestication. Plant-microbe cooperation is unstable. Plants have repeatedly abandoned cooperation with microbes over evolutionary time, and evidence from my lab shows that crops can evolve to interact differently with beneficial microbes than do their wild relatives. This reveals a gap in scientific understanding of the evolution of cooperation: what evolutionary processes result in changes to plant symbiosis traits along the path to development of a cultivated crop?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>To investigate declines we observe in plant benefits from microbial symbiosis during crop domestication and improvement, we are using US National Plant Germplasm System collections, recombinant inbred line populations, and genomic resources for legume crops ranging from soybeans to peas as model systems. The agricultural utility of legumes lies in their unique symbiosis with rhizobium bacteria, which convert atmospheric nitrogen into useable forms, essentially fertilizing the plant. At least forty-one legume species have been domesticated. Understanding how and why the rhizobial symbiosis evolves during domestication will provide a critical road map for ways in which we could improve crop benefits from microbes in order to increase US and global food security<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column two \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-922\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-18-at-4.43.07-PM-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"677\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related papers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS et al, (2024) Host-imposed control mechanisms in legume-rhizobia symbiosis, <em>Nature Microbiology,<\/em> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41564-024-01762-2<\/p>\n<p>Millar N et al\u00a0(2023) Impacts of domestication on the legume-rhizobium mutualism,\u00a0<em>Plant and Soil<\/em>, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11104-023-06128-x<\/p>\n<p>Montoya A\u00a0 et al\u00a0(2023<em>)\u00a0<\/em>Hosts winnow symbionts with multiple layers of absolute and conditional discrimination mechanisms,\u00a0<em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B,\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspb.2022.2153<\/p>\n<p>Helliwell E et al\u00a0 (2022) Transgenic soybeans secreting phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate-binding proteins show enhanced resistance against the oomycete pathogen\u00a0<em>Phytophthora sojae, Frontiers in Microbiology,\u00a0<\/em>Vol. 13, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmicb.2022.923281<\/p>\n<p>Klein M et al\u00a0(2021) Evolution of manipulative microbial behaviors in the rhizosphere, Evolutionary Applications, 00:1-16, DOI: 10.1111\/eva.13333\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Klein-et-al.-Evolution-of-manipulative-microbial-behaviors-in-t-1.pdf\">KleinEtAl2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS &amp; Sachs JL (2020) Agriculture and the disruption of plant-microbial symbiosis,\u00a0<em>Trends in Ecology and Evolution\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2020\/03\/Porter-and-Sachs-2020-Agriculture-and-the-Disruption-of-Plant%E2%80%93Microbial-.pdf\">Porter&amp;Sachs2020<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ucr.edu\/articles\/2020\/03\/10\/some-domesticated-plants-ignore-beneficial-soil-microbes\">see press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-1456249778265\" class=\"row halves gutter pad-top\">\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column one \">\n<header>\n<h2>II. EVOLUTION OF SYMBIOTIC MICROBIAL DIVERSITY<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<p><strong>How do wild microbes adapt to the environment?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To understand the origin and diversification of microbial life, we use a combination of experiments, natural history, genetics, and population genomics. Bacteria thrive in extreme environments that require them to tolerate stresses ranging from toxic heavy metals in the environment to assault from host immune systems in symbiosis with host organisms. The genetic basis of bacterial adaptation to such diverse environments is largely undescribed in natural systems, yet this information is critical for understanding the generation and functional significance of bacterial diversity.<\/li>\n<li>Diversity persists if the genes or traits that underlie adaptation to one environment diminish fitness in another environment. This fitness tradeoff can promote niche specialization and prevent competitive exclusion. However, bacteria have modular, fluid genomes\u2014adaptive genes are rapidly horizontally transmitted between strains. This can allow adaptive variants to assort across environmental gradients without the constraints that limit both allelic substitution and exploration of the adaptive landscape in macro-organisms. Whether trade-offs are critical to the generation and maintenance of microbial diversity remains a frontier in Evolutionary Biology.<\/li>\n<li>We aim to link the genomic, physiological, and ecological bases of local adaptation to heavy metal enriched serpentine soils in several clades of wild symbiotic <em>Mesorhizobium<\/em> bacteria. We have identified candidate genes for heavy metal adaptation in wild <em>Mesorhizobium <\/em>bacteria are leveraging association mapping and molecular genetic approaches to dissect the genetic basis of heavy metal adaptation. These <em>Mesorhizobium<\/em> symbiotically fixing nitrogen for native legume species and our system serves as an emerging bacterial model of adaptation that will lead to innovative strategies to incorporate metal-adapted soil microbiota in bioremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column two \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-926\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-18-at-5.16.34-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"365\" height=\"639\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Papers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kehlet-Delgado H et al\u00a0(<em>in press<\/em>) The evolutionary genomics of adaptation to stress in wild rhizobium bacteria, <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS (2021) Dispatch: Symbiont switching and environmental adaptation, Current Biology, 31(17):R1049-R1050, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cub.2021.07.079\u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Porter-2021-Evolution-Symbiont-switching-and-environmental-ad.pdf\">Porter2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Martinez ML et al\u00a0(2021) Specialization in multiple niche axes supports the oscillation theory of speciation in native legumes, Evolution, 75(5):1070-1086, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/evo.14222\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Torres-Marti\u0301nez-et-al.-2021-Evolution-of-specialization-in-a-plant-microbial-m.pdf\">MartinezEtAl2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS et al\u00a0(2020) Beneficial microbes ameliorate abiotic and biotic sources of stress on plants, <em>Functional Ecology, <\/em>doi.org\/10.1111\/1365-2435.13499\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2020\/01\/1365-2435.13499.pdf\">PorterEtAl2019<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.wsu.edu\/2020\/01\/29\/microscopic-partners-help-plants-survive-stressful-environments\/?utm_source=WSUNews-enewsletter&amp;utm_campaign=wsunewsenewsletter&amp;utm_medium=email\">see press<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS et al\u00a0(2018<em>)\u00a0<\/em>Dynamic genomic architecture of cooperation in a wild population of\u00a0<em>Mesorhizobium, ISME J <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2018\/09\/s41396-018-0266-y.pdf\">PorterEtAl2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS\u00a0 et al\u00a0(2017)\u00a0Association mapping reveals novel serpentine adaptation gene clusters\u00a0in a population of symbiotic Mesorhizobium,<em>\u00a0ISME,\u00a0doi: 10.1038\/ismej.2016.88\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/PorterEtAl2016.pdf\">PorterEtAl2016<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jones EI et al\u00a0(2015) Cheaters must prosper: reconciling theoretical and empirical perspectives on cheating in mutualism. <em>Ecology Letters, <\/em>18(11):1270-1284.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/JonesEtAl2015.pdf\">JonesEtAl2015, <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/news.wsu.edu\/2015\/09\/23\/cooperation-in-nature-harbors-surprisingly-few-cheaters\/\">see press<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Friesen ML et al (2014) The Ecological and Genomic Basis of Salinity Adaptation in Tunisian Medicago truncatula, <em>BMC Genomics<\/em>, 15(1):1160.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/FriesenEtAl2014.pdf\">FriesenEtAl2014<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS &amp; Simms EL (2014) Selection for cheating across disparate environments in the legume-rhizobium mutualism, <em>Ecology Letters<\/em> 17: 1121-1129.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/PorterSimms2014.pdf\">PorterSimms2014<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ehinger M et al\u00a0(2014) Specialization-generalization trade-off in a Bradyrhizobium symbiosis with wild legume hosts, <em>BMC Ecology<\/em> 14:8.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/EhingerEtAl2014.pdf\">EhingerEtAl2014<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS (2013) Adaptive divergence in seed color camouflage in contrasting soil environments, <em>New Phytologist<\/em>, 197:1311-1320.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/Porter2013.pdf\">Porter2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS &amp; Rice KJ (2013) Trade-offs, spatial heterogeneity, and the maintenance of microbial diversity, <em>Evolution<\/em>, 67(2): 599-608.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/PorterRice2013.pdf\">PorterRice2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Friesen ML et al\u00a0(2011) Microbially Mediated Plant Functional Traits. <em>Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics<\/em> vol. 42:23-46.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/FriesenEtAl2011.pdf\">FriesenEtAl2011<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-1456250083979\" class=\"row halves gutter pad-top\">\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column one \">\n<header>\n<h2>III. MUTUALISM EVOLUTION UNDER GLOBAL CHANGE<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<p><strong>How do microbial symbionts affect biological invasions?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Invasive species wreak havoc on ecosystems by displacing natives and by altering abiotic conditions. While much is known about the substantial harm invasive plants and animals inflict, we know little about the impacts of the invisible communities of microbial mutualists that co-invade with their hosts or how host-symbiont mutualisms are re-shaped at genomic and ecological levels during biological invasions.<\/li>\n<li>The legume-rhizobium symbiosis is an ecologically important model mutualism amenable to addressing these fundamental questions. <em>Medicago<\/em> <em>polymorpha, <\/em>a noxious legume weed and a relative of alfalfa, has co-invaded North America from Europe with its rhizobial partner, <em>Ensifer medicae<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>These co-invading mutualists have experienced dramatically different population genomic consequences of invasion. While the plant shows substantial reductions in genomic diversity in the invaded range relative to populations in the native range, its symbiont has not experienced a similar bottleneck in genomic diversity during invasion. We find that robust cooperation between the partners is unaltered by the process of invasion, yet the partners show reduced genetic variance in mutualistic traits in the invaded range. Therefore, the mutualism functions similarly in the invaded and native range, but has a lower capacity for cooperation to evolve in the invaded range. We also find that low symbiont abundance in the soil is a key ecological attribute slowing the spread of this noxious weed and that the success of this weed not only depends upon symbiont nitrogen fixation, but also benefits from symbiont mediated protection from soil pathogens.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column two \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-929\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-18-at-5.34.46-PM-396x547.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-18-at-5.34.46-PM-396x547.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/03\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-18-at-5.34.46-PM.jpg 401w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Papers:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wendlandt C et al (2022) Negotiating mutualism: a locus for exploitation by rhizobia has a broad effect size distribution and context-dependent effects on legume hosts, <em>J Evolutionary Biology, <\/em>00:1-11, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/jeb.14011<\/p>\n<p>Wendlandt C et al\u00a0(2021) Decreased coevolutionary potential and increased symbiont fecundity during the biological invasion of a legume-rhizobium mutualism, Evolution, https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1111\/evo.14164\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Wendlandt-et-al.-Decreased-coevolutionary-potential-and-increased-s.pdf\">WendlandtEtAl2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lopez Z et al\u00a0(2020) Patchy symbiont distribution constrains the fitness of an exotic plant across an invaded landscape, Biological Invasions, doi.org\/10.1007\/s10530-020-02404-4\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Lopez-et-al.-2021-Microbial-mutualist-distribution-limits-spread-of-.pdf\">LopezEtAl2020<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jack CN et al\u00a0(2019)<em> Rhizobia<\/em> Protect Their Legume Hosts Against Soil-Borne Microbial Antagonists in a Host-Genotype-Dependent Manner,\u00a0<em>Rhizosphere, 9:47-555, DOI:\u00a010.1016\/j.rhisph.2018.11.005 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2018\/12\/Jack-et-al.-2019-Rhizobia-protect-their-legume-hosts-against-soil-b.pdf\">JackEtAl2019<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jack CN et al\u00a0(2019) A high-throughput method of analyzing multiple plant defensive compounds in minimized sample mass, <em>Applications in Plant Sciences, <\/em>7(1): e1210, DOI: 10.1002\/aps3.1210\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Jack-et-al.-2019-A-high\u2010throughput-method-of-analyzing-multiple-pla.pdf\">JackEtAl2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Krieg CP et al\u00a0(2019) Nitrogen fixation: Fixing the gap between concept- and evidence-based learning with legume biology, <em>American Biology Teacher, <\/em>81(4):250-255, DOI<strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>10.1525\/abt.2019.81.4.250\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2022\/02\/Krieg-et-al.-2019-Nitrogen-Fixation-Fixing-the-Gap-between-Concept-.pdf\">KriegEtAl2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Helliwell E et al (2019) Rapid establishment of a flowering cline in <em>Medicago polymorpha<\/em> after invasion of North America, <em>Molecular Ecology, DOI: 10.1111\/mec.148\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2018\/12\/Helliwell_et_al-2018-Molecular_Ecology-1.pdf\">HelliwellEtAl2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS et al\u00a0(2018<em>) <\/em>Co-invading symbiotic mutualists of <em>Medicago polymorpha\u00a0<\/em>retain high ancestral diversity and contain diverse accessory genomes, <em>FEMS Microbial Ecology\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2018\/03\/Porter-et-al.-2018-Co-invading-symbiotic-mutualists-of-Medicago-polym.pdf\">PorterEtAl2018<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>La Pierre KJ et al\u00a0(2017) Invasive legumes can associate with many mutualists of native legumes, but usually do not,\u00a0<em>Ecology and Evolution,\u00a0DOI: 10.1002\/ece3.3310 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2017\/09\/Pierre_et_al-2017-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf\">LaPierreEtAl2017<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Amsellem L et al\u00a0(2017) Importance of microorganisms to\u00a0macroorganisms invasions \u2014 Is the essential invisible to the eye? <em>Advances in Ecological Research<\/em> (Special Issue\u00a0on Networks of Invasion)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/AmsellemEtAl2016.pdf\">AmsellemEtAl2016<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porter SS et al\u00a0(2011) Mutualism and adaptive divergence: Co-invasion of a heterogeneous grassland by an exotic legume-rhizobium symbiosis, <em>PLoS One<\/em>: e27935.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/03\/PorterEtAl2011.pdf\">PorterEtAl2011<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-1727735774652\" class=\"row halves gutter pad-top\">\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column one \">\n<header>\n<h2>IV. POST-FIRE RECOVERY<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<p><strong>How do microbiome inocula impact the establishment of conifer seedlings during post-fire reforestation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As wildfires become more common and more intense in response to climate change, we must attempt to mitigate the effects of these devastating events on our landscape. After a wildfire, soil microbiota are critical for conifer re-establishment. Depending on the intensity of the fire, soil microbe communities can be greatly altered or diminished at a burned site. Inoculation presents a potential route for improvement of reforestation outcomes. However, <span data-teams=\"true\"><span class=\"ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak\" dir=\"ltr\">predicting inoculum effects on host microbiome development and performance remains a challenge.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-teams=\"true\"><span class=\"ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak\" dir=\"ltr\">After testing how emergent properties of inoculum and established root microbiomes predict seedling performance for Grand Fir and a competing shrub in post-wildfire forest soil in the greenhouse. We find that, consistent with strong priority effects, inocula with contrasting wildfire histories conferred benefits, and established microbiomes that were distinct from those of a negative control, even though few of the inoculated taxa persisted after one year. Inocula with higher fungal diversity, and established root microbiomes with more mutualists and greater network complexity, were associated with higher seedling performance.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>We continue to investigate the impacts of post-burn microbiome inoculation through a project in collaboration with the Forest Service, using greenhouse experiments to mimic re-forestation conditions for Douglas fir, a commercially and ecologically important species in the Pacific Northwest.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div style=\"\" class=\"column two \">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-967\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1735-396x528.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1735-396x528.jpeg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1735.jpeg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-963\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_110132-396x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_110132-396x297.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_110132-792x594.jpg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_110132-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_110132.jpg 976w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-964\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_114059-396x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_114059-396x528.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_114059.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-965\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_122804-396x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_122804-396x297.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_122804-792x594.jpg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_122804-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/20240913_122804.jpg 976w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-966\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1740-396x297.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"396\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1740-396x297.jpeg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1740-792x594.jpeg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1740-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2024\/09\/IMG_1740.jpeg 976w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 396px) 100vw, 396px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> <\/p>\n<h2>RESEARCH<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Our lab combines evolutionary ecology, quantitative genetics, and genomics to study symbiosis and environmental adaptation. Understanding how symbiotic partners co-evolve and adapt to different environments is ecologically and agriculturally important. For example, this will help us explain how cooperation is maintained in the symbiosis between plants and rhizobium bacteria, which is responsible for half of all current biologically fixed terrestrial nitrogen. In this symbiosis, host plants trade photosynthetically derived carbon for nitrogen fixed by endosymbiotic rhizobium bacteria housed in root nodules.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/research\/legume-rhizobium\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-27\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium-396x351.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"238\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium-396x351.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vancouverlabs\/uploads\/sites\/1144\/2016\/02\/legume-rhizobium.jpg 471w\" sizes=\"(max-width: ... <a href=\"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/research\/\" class=\"more-link\"\/><span class=\"more-default\">&raquo; More &#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2131,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-builder.php","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":[]},"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vancouver.labs.wsu.edu\/stephanie-porter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}