Ballistospore Discharge: Adaptations Among Mushroom-Forming Fungi

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This project is concerned with the mechanism of ballistospore discharge in the Agaricomycetes, or mushroom-forming fungi, and, more specifically, with the ways in which the process is adapted to control launch speed and range. The mechanism involves the rapid motion of a fluid droplet over the spore surface and is powered by surface tension, a mechanism that can also drive man-made nanoscale machines. Subtle modifications in spore morphology have profound effects upon spore motion, suggesting that the varied forms of spores may reflect adaptation to specific selective pressures. There are three specific experimental aims. Aim 1 will identify adaptations to the ballistosporic mechanism that control launch speed and range in gilled, spined, and poroid mushrooms. Experiments will involve high speed video microscopy, mathematical modeling, and electron microscopy. The same methods will be used in Aim 2 to examine adaptations to the ballistosporic mechanism that control launch speed and range in discoid, flattened, and coral-shaped fruiting bodies. Aim 3 concerns changes in spore morphology and development associated with the loss of the ballistosporic mechanism in some species of mushroom-forming fungi. The project involves active collaboration with other faculty scientists in different disciplines, and work with graduate and undergraduate students. The training of undergraduate students from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati through summer research experiences at Miami University is particularly important in terms of the broader impact of the project. A second mechanism for broadening the impact of the research involves student participation through the P.I.'s course in mycology. This class provides diverse students, including non-science majors, with a unique opportunity to participate in a single-semester research project designed to lead to significant and potentially publishable results.