Systematics of Magnaporthaceae: Understanding Evolution of the Rice Blast Fungus and Allied Species Using Phylogenetic, Phylogenomic and Comparative Genome Analysis

Magnaporthaceae家族包含谷物和草的毁灭性真菌病原体，例如稻瘟病真菌和草坪草的夏斑病原体，它们是寻求了解致病机理和真菌生物学的研究中的流行模型系统。 尽管它们在生态和经济上的重要性，Magnaporthaceae与其他真菌科的关系以及组成属之间的关系仍然模糊不清。 这阻碍了对发病机制和生态成功的理解。将使用下一代测序方法生成代表性种属的新DNA序列数据。本研究的主要目的是：1）利用系统发育和基因组学分析，对Magnaporthaceae进行界定，并解决该科内部的亲缘关系; 2）生成Magnaporthaceae中所选物种的基因组草图; 3）发现和描述Magnaporthaceae中的新物种。Magnaporthaceae是了解真菌病原生物与其寄主植物之间相互作用的模式系统。新的数据将增加由NSF资助的“生命之树”项目和其他国家和国际计划产生的快速增长的真菌基因组数量。 它们将导致更好地理解基因组和基因家族的进化，以及这种进化如何导致真菌成为致病菌的能力。

The family Magnaporthaceae contains devastating fungal pathogens of cereals and grasses, such as the rice blast fungus and summer patch pathogen of turfgrasses, which are popular model systems in studies that seek to understand pathogenesis and fungal biology. Despite their ecological and economic importance, the relationships of Magnaporthaceae to other fungal families and of the constituent genera to one another remain ambiguous. This hinders advancement toward the understanding of pathogenesis and ecological success. New DNA sequence data will be generated for representative species using next-generation sequencing methods. The objectives of the study are to: 1) circumscribe the Magnaporthaceae and to resolve relationships of and within the family using phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses; 2) generate draft genome assemblies of selected species in the Magnaporthaceae; 3) discover and describe new species in the Magnaporthaceae. Magnaporthaceae serves as a model system for understanding interactions between fungal pathogenic organisms and their host plants. The novel data will augment a rapidly growing number of fungal genomes generated by NSF-funded "tree of life" projects and other national and international initiatives. They will lead to a better understanding of the evolution of genomes and gene families and of how this evolution leads to the ability of fungi to become pathogenic.