Unveiling the diversity and ecological role of the obligate parasitic fungi in phylum Cryptomycota

该项目将调查最近发现的一组被称为隐孢子门的真菌的生物和遗传多样性。人们主要只从使用DNA技术在环境中无处不在地恢复的分子签名中了解该组病毒。从对这个群体知之甚少的情况来看，这些真菌似乎寄生在其他有机体上，然而，隐孢子门的确切寄主和栖息地要求仍然是个谜。这项研究将对该种群的多样性进行分类，并对其形态、寄主范围和环境功能提供新的见解。从北美多种栖息地分离出来的单个细胞将被使用最先进的基因组学方法和显微镜进行分析，以确定迄今为止仅被描述为环境条形码的生物的面孔和功能。隐霉菌显然占许多栖息地生物多样性的很大比例，从池塘、土壤到海洋。了解这些生物的功能和它们寄生的内容对于发展对食物网和营养循环的预测性理解至关重要。此外，阐明这些真菌寄生在哪些生物体上可能对我们的食品供应和生物燃料生产的安全具有重大影响。这也可能对人类健康产生影响。高级人员将培训博士后研究人员、研究生和本科生现代真菌学、基因组学和生物信息学技术。这项研究中产生的DNA序列数据将通过网络服务器公开提供，这些服务器将丰富关于隐孢子菌的教育和研究内容。

This project will investigate the biological and genetic diversity of a recently discovered group of fungi known as Cryptomycota. The group is primarily known only from molecular signatures which have been ubiquitously recovered in the environment using DNA techniques. From what little is known of the group, these fungi appear to be parasitic on other organisms, yet, the precise set of hosts and habitat requirements of Cryptomycota remain mysterious. This research will catalog the diversity of the group and provide novel insights into its morphology, host-range, and environmental function. Individual cells isolated from multiple habitat types in North America will be will be analyzed using state-of-the-art genomics methods and microscopy to put a face and function onto organisms that heretofore have been merely characterized as environmental barcodes.Cryptomycota apparently make up a large proportion of the diversity of organisms in many habitats, ranging from ponds and soil to the sea. Understanding the function of these organisms and what they parasitize is vital for developing a predictive understanding of food webs and nutrient cycling. Moreover, elucidating what organisms these fungi parasitize could have significant implications for the security of our food supply and the production of biofuels. There may also be implications for human health. The senior personnel will train postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students in modern techniques of mycology, genomics, and bioinformatics. The DNA sequence data generated in this study will be made publicly available through webservers, which will be enriched with educational and research content regarding Cryptomycota.