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Last week, Alexii Cornell, Natasha Boote and I attended the 99th Annual Ecological Society of America Conference in Sacramento, California. This year, more than 3000 people attended the conference, themed "From Oceans to Mountains: It's all Ecology." I saw many presentations on endophyte ecology. Some highlights included studies on the relationship between endophytic fungi and their bacterial symbionts (abstract), the influence of plant root associated fungi on plant diversity (abstract), and the diversity and structure of endophyte communities in coastal conifers (abstract).

Alexii Cornell (image below) presented her research with Ylva Lekberg and collaborators on the direct and indirect effects of herbicides on soil biota. Their study suggested that different soil microbial groups, i.e. bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and other fungi, differ in their responses to herbicides and that these differences should be taken into consideration in order to increase restoration success.

Alexii Cornell (image below) presented her research with Ylva Lekberg and collaborators on the direct and indirect effects of herbicides on soil biota.

I presented research on the use of next generation sequencing technology to explore endophyte community assemblage in western white pines (image below). In this study, we successfully inoculated white pine seedlings with fungal endophytes. We then used direct DNA amplification and Illumina sequencing to investigate community assemblage and co-occurrence patterns of endophytic species.

I presented research on the use of next generation sequencing technology to explore endophyte community assemblage in western white pines.

(Photo by Alexii Cornell)

Natasha Boote (pictured below) presented the results of a collaboration between Ylva Lekberg, the US Forest Service and Adnan Menderes University in Turkey. Natasha's poster discussed whether successful invaders in Montana grow larger and produce more seeds compared to their native Turkish counterparts.

Natasha Boote presented the results of a collaboration between Ylva Lekberg, the US Forest Service and Adnan Menderes University in Turkey.

(Photo by Ylva Lekberg)

About the Author

Lorinda Bullington

Lorinda is currently a Ph. D. student at the University of Montana, studying systems ecology. She also has a master’s degree in molecular ecology, a B.S. degree in microbiology, and a certificate in bioinformatics. Her research investigates how plant-associated microbial communities (plant microbiomes), influence plant growth, defensive chemistry, disease, and nutrient cycling. Lorinda comes from three generations of small-scale Montana loggers and is particularly interested in microbial communities in forest ecosystems. She has published research on fungi associated with native white pines and their influence on tree defensive chemistry and the invasive pathogen Cronartium ribicola, which causes white pine blister rust disease. She also works in collaboration with others at UM studying the influence of bark beetle infestations on fungal decomposer communities, with implications on nutrient turnover and carbon sequestration in forests.
In addition to her own research, Lorinda often assists other researchers in bioinformatics analyses and is currently working on multiple diet-barcoding studies to better understand food web ecology and dynamics across the landscape. For a complete list of Lorinda’s publications, click here.