Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology Sara Branco (along with a team of scientists at Duke University and the University of Wisconsin) received funding from the Joint Genome Institute/Department of Energy to develop the project ‘Functional Roles of Secondary Metabolites in Ectomycorrhizal Fungi’. The study will be led by Lotus Lofgren of Duke University. This instrumentation grant ($165,000) will allow addressing important questions about the role of fungal secondary metabolites in the formation of plant-fungal mutualism, fungal competition, and whether and how symbioses act to overcome abiotic stress tolerance.