Collaborative Research: The evolution of gene expression underlying fruiting body development in fungi

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。基因表达的变化驱动组织的分化和多细胞生物体新形态的进化。然而，在复杂的生物体中，将基因表达的进化与发育的进化联系起来的研究是困难的。子囊菌门中的真菌，包括大量重要的植物和动物病原体，为这些研究提供了一个理想的论坛，因为它们易于操作，发育出具有少数特征良好的组织类型的果实结构，并具有许多可用的完整基因组序列。该项目将揭示基本的子实体发育的转录程序的元素，通过分析基因组范围内的基因表达在一组不同的密切相关的真菌在子囊菌纲Sordariomycetes。它将提供全基因组基因表达进化的数据，揭示形态变化的转录基础的进化差异。这些发育过程对于有性生殖、重组以及病原体和宿主的适应动力学都是至关重要的。该项目将确定两种植物病原镰刀菌和三种脉孢菌在受控环境条件下子实体发育期间的转录组。这些信息将被用来估计祖先的进化过渡，导致这两个属的形态变化。推测通过这一过程鉴定的转录元件在发育过程中将显示不同的功能，并对这些基因在F。graminearum和N.将执行crassa。最终，转录研究和候选基因敲除将揭示控制发育的调节回路。这种调控回路和基因鉴定将为杀真菌剂提供新的靶点。拟议活动的智力价值将是提供一个模型，如何转录转变驱动形态变异的演变。此外，该计划将确定在子实体发育中起作用的基因的调控和结构成分。更广泛的影响该项目将为两名研究生和一名博士后提供进化生物学和功能生物学交叉培训的机会，并为几名本科生提供分子和发育生物学方面的经验。此外，特雷尔博士将在密歇根州当地的一所小学扩大她的微生物学项目。汤森博士将与当地一所高中的教职员工和学生合作，设计两个户外教室模块，以生态系统和分解者的作用为特色，与康涅狄格州六年级的标准相联系。 这些模块也将适用于学生参观学校的自然遗址的图尔斯。此外，植物病原类群经常依赖于有性阶段来承受环境变化，重组和创造新的基因型，并成功地逃避宿主防御，但这是一个阶段，可能是敏感的干预，往往发生在可预测的条件下。这些特征使子实体发育成为控制真菌生长和繁殖的主要目标。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Shifts in gene expression drive differentiation of tissues and the evolution of new morphologies in multicellular organisms. However, studies linking the evolution of gene expression and the evolution of development are difficult in complex organisms. Fungi in the phylum Ascomycota, a group that includes a large number of important plant and animal pathogens, provide an ideal forum for these studies as they are easily manipulated, develop fruiting structures with a few well-characterized tissue types, and feature many available and complete genome sequences. This project will reveal elements of the underlying transcriptional program of fruiting body development by profiling the genome-wide gene expression in a diverse set of closely-related fungi in the Ascomycota class Sordariomycetes. It will provide data on the evolution of genome-wide gene expression, revealing evolved differences in the transcriptional basis of morphological changes. These developmental processes are fundamental to sexual reproduction, recombination, and to the adaptive dynamics of pathogens and hosts. The project will determine the transcriptome of two plant pathogenic Fusarium species and three species of Neurospora during fruit body development under controlled environmental conditions. This information will then be used to estimate the ancestral evolutionary transitions that resulted in the shifts in morphology of these two genera. It is hypothesized that transcriptional elements identified by this process will display distinct functions in the developmental process, and functional analyses of these genes in F. graminearum and N. crassa will be performed. Ultimately, the transcriptional studies and candidate gene knockouts will reveal the regulatory circuits that control development. Such regulatory circuits and gene identifications will suggest novel targets for fungicides. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity will be to provide a model for how transcriptional shifts drive evolution of morphological variation. In addition, the proposal will identify the regulatory and structural components of genes that function in fruit body development.Broader ImpactsThis project will provide opportunities for cross-training in evolutionary biology and functional biology for two graduate students and one postdoctoral associate, and experience in molecular and developmental biology for several undergraduate students. In addition, Dr. Trail will expand her program in microbiology at a local Michigan elementary school. Dr. Townsend will work with staff and students at a local high school designing two outdoor classroom modules featuring ecosystems and the role of decomposers, linking to Connecticut state standards for 6th grade. The modules will also to be applicable to student tours of the school's natural site. Moreover, plant pathogenic taxa frequently rely on the sexual stage to withstand environmental variation, to recombine and create new genotypes, and to successfully evade host defenses, yet it is a stage that may be sensitive to intervention and often occurs under predictable conditions. These characteristics make fruit body development a prime target for efforts to control fungal growth and reproduction.