EAGER: Does host specificity drive species diversification of fungal endophytes?

EAGER：宿主特异性是否会驱动内生真菌的物种多样化？

• 批准号: 1841715
• 负责人: Ryoko Oono
• 金额: $ 19.98万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1841715&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Does; host; specificity; drive

This project will study the ecology and evolution of a group of microscopic fungi that live inside plant leaves (called endophytes), but do not appear to cause harm to their plant hosts. Endophytic fungi are one of the most diverse groups of fungi yet remain poorly known overall. A critical barrier to understanding how endophytic fungi evolve is the lack of a well-characterized model endophyte species and a foundation of basic knowledge about its biology, global distribution, evolutionary history and genome characteristics. The goal of this project is to develop this foundational knowledge for the most common endophytic fungus of pine trees, the genus Lophodermium. Researchers will use phylogenetic and comparative genomic methods to test how the endophytic species have diversified in relation to their plant hosts and their environment. Results will lead to the discovery and description of endophytic fungal species new to science and new techniques that will accelerate the characterization of others. Broader impacts of the research will yield new insights for conserving cryptic biodiversity and facilitate the discovery of novel fungal biochemicals, such as antibiotics and enzymes for biofuel production. Researchers will train graduate and undergraduate students, including members of under-represented groups, in diverse disciplines ranging from evolutionary ecology and bioinformatics to molecular engineering. This project will generate the first integrative, global phylogenomic study of Lophodermium (ca. 100 species; Class Leotiomycetes, Phylum Ascomycota) to understand the diversity and specificity of the plant-endophyte symbiotic interaction. This research will address fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions concerning the origin and diversification of fungal endophyte species, specifically addressing how adaptations to different plant host species may lead to the speciation of endophytes. Genomic and transcriptomic data of diverse Lophodermium species will be generated to help identify underlying molecular signatures that have contributed to speciation and adaptation to Pinus host species. The project will also develop tools, such as in situ fluorescence probes, and cyber-platforms that will transform the current approach to exploring, analyzing and synthesizing the life history of cryptic endophytes. Project outcomes will strengthen research infrastructure by building plant and microbial reference collections as well as open-access software to speed research collaborations and syntheses of taxonomic data.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目将研究一组生活在植物叶片内的微观真菌（称为内生菌）的生态学和进化，但似乎不会对其植物宿主造成伤害。内生真菌是真菌中最具多样性的类群之一，但总体上知之甚少。了解内生真菌如何进化的一个关键障碍是缺乏一个良好表征的模式内生菌物种和有关其生物学，全球分布，进化历史和基因组特征的基础知识。该项目的目标是为松树最常见的内生真菌--散斑壳属（Lophodermium）发展这一基础知识。研究人员将使用系统发育和比较基因组学方法来测试内生物种如何与其植物宿主和环境相关地多样化。结果将导致发现和描述新的内生真菌物种的科学和新技术，这将加速其他人的表征。这项研究的更广泛影响将为保护神秘的生物多样性提供新的见解，并促进发现新的真菌生物化学物质，如抗生素和生物燃料生产酶。研究人员将培训研究生和本科生，包括代表性不足的群体的成员，在不同的学科，从进化生态学和生物信息学到分子工程。该项目将产生第一个综合性的，全球性的散斑壳属（Lophodermium）基因组研究。100种;纲Leotiomycetes，子囊菌门），以了解植物内生菌共生相互作用的多样性和特异性。这项研究将解决有关真菌内生菌物种的起源和多样化的基本生态和进化问题，特别是解决如何适应不同的植物宿主物种可能导致内生菌的物种形成。将产生不同的散斑壳属物种的基因组和转录组数据，以帮助确定潜在的分子特征，有助于物种形成和适应松树宿主物种。该项目还将开发工具，如原位荧光探针和网络平台，这些工具将改变目前探索，分析和合成隐蔽内生菌生活史的方法。项目成果将通过建立植物和微生物参考库以及开放获取软件来加强研究基础设施，以加快研究合作和分类数据的合成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。