Isidora Lončarević
ESR 3
Lund University and ArcticMass
Project description
In my project I will study the diversity of metabolites in mosses in relation to phylogeny and community assembly. The plan is to select around 80 species of mosses based on their known capability of production of secondary metabolites and phylogenetic relationship, and to establish metabolite profile of the individual species. This project will focus on the biosynthesis of small terpenoids and will use advanced methods to describe novel compounds. Metabolite profiles will be subjected to analyses from phylogeny and community assembly perspectives (phylogenetic signal will be compared with the signal, which may arise from co-evolutionary relationships in bryophyte communities and in response to some of the biotic interactions). Another aim is to understand the factors defining the regeneration niche in bryophytes (which are potentially influencing their success during primary or secondary colonization) and to achieve a better idea of the regeneration niche of different species in relation to phylogenetic position and community assembly. One more objective of the project is to compare allelopathic interactions between selected species of bryophytes and to chemically characterize substances that may be involved. The plan is to screen for allelopathic substances by comparing profiles of intracellular and excreted metabolites under more or less stressful situations.