Underground Explorers

Mycorrhizal fungi form mutualistic associations with plant roots, they provide mineral nutrients to the plant and in return obtain carbohydrates. Mycorrhizal fungi are also indicators of the health of forest ecosystems and they are key in promoting the growth of plants thereby increasing plant diversity. Many mycorrhizal fungal communities across the globe remain underexplored including in countries like Uganda. In this project, we aim to determine the diversity of Mycorrhizal fungi in one of Uganda’s forest ecosystems of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The forest is regarded as one of the most significant forest ecosystems in Uganda, known for the conservation of huge biodiversity and home to almost half of the world's total mountain gorillas. It is an Afromontane forest with various distinct ecoregions/zones characterized by high-altitude montane bamboo, low-altitude mixed mature forest, and medium-altitude tropical evergreen forest which are expected to support a high diversity of fungal communities. We hypothesize that these different microclimates of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park could affect the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi communities. The project is expected to accomplish the following objectives: 1) Determining the diversity of mycorrhizal fungi in Bwindi Impenetrable National based on metabarcoding using soil and root DNA 2) Mapping the distribution of mycorrhizal fungal species in the three altitudinal zones of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and 3) Determining the physical-chemical parameters of rhizosphere soil collected from the climatic regions of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. A total of 36 root and soil samples will be collected from three altitudinal zones of the forest using SPUN’s standardized protocols. The Mycorrhizal fungal communities will be assessed using ITS2 rDNA metabarcoding. Studying mycorrhizal fungal communities in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park will give us a thorough understanding of the Bwindi’s forest ecosystem function. Furthermore, mycorrhizal fungal sequences from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park will provide first-time insights into the diversity of forest mycorrhizal fungal communities of Uganda.