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多细胞生物的组织分化和新形态的进化。然而，将基因表达的进化与发育的进化联系起来的研究在复杂生物体中是困难的。子囊菌门的真菌，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，因为它们很容易被操纵，发展出具有一些良好特征的组织类型的结果结构，并且具有许多可用的和完整的基因组序列。本项目将通过分析子囊菌纲Sordariomycetes中一系列密切相关的真菌的全基因组基因表达，揭示子实体发育的潜在转录程序。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。这些发育过程对有性生殖、重组以及病原体和宿主的适应动力学至关重要。本项目将测定两种植物致病性镰刀菌和三种神经孢子菌在受控环境条件下果体发育过程中的转录组。这些信息将被用来估计导致这两个属形态变化的祖先进化转变。假设通过这一过程鉴定的转录元件在发育过程中表现出不同的功能，并将对这些基因在禾粒玉米和粗粒玉米中的功能进行分析。最终，转录研究和候选基因敲除将揭示控制发育的调控回路。这样的调控回路和基因鉴定将为杀菌剂提供新的靶点。提出的活动的智力价值将是提供一个模型，转录变化如何驱动形态变异的进化。此外，该提案将确定在果体发育中起作用的基因的调控和结构成分。更广泛的影响本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生物学和发育生物学的经验。此外，Trail博士还将在密歇根当地一所小学扩展她的微生物学项目。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角色为特色，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。此外，植物病原分类群经常依赖于有性阶段来抵御环境变化，重组和产生新的基因型，并成功地逃避宿主的防御，但这是一个对干预可能敏感的阶段，通常发生在可预测的条件下。这些特点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.