NSF-BSF: Collaborative Research: Developmental genetics of host invasion initiated by fungal spores

真菌以各种方式与它们的环境和人类生活相互作用。真菌对环境的适应导致了不同的真菌生活方式。就在真菌纲索氏菌纲中，也有与植物和谐共生的互惠共生体的例子;破坏和杀死植物或哺乳动物的病原体;分解有机物质的真菌;攻击其他真菌的真菌;寄生，操纵和杀死昆虫的僵尸真菌。每种真菌的生活史都始于一个简单的孢子，称为分生孢子。分生孢子可以迅速大量产生，并提供传播到新宿主的主要手段。本研究计划将研究分生孢子在不同宿主上萌发和生长过程中物种间基因表达的变化。这将揭示在不同条件下孢子萌发和宿主定殖的进化特征，以更好地理解真菌生态和进化。真菌的多样性也使它们成为一个令人兴奋和易于处理的教学平台;更广泛的影响包括一个真菌生态教育项目，其中Celentano生物技术，健康和医学磁铁学校的学生收集，识别和分离植物和昆虫上常见的真菌。这项合作研究将阐明孢子形成的遗传基础和真菌寄生在Sordariomycetes的进化。这类真菌包含已经进化出通过原位孢子萌发攻击植物、昆虫、鱼类、哺乳动物和真菌的能力和特异性的成员。将研究七种Sordariomycetes：两种昆虫病原体（金龟子绿僵菌和蛹虫草），一种植物病原体（禾谷镰刀菌），一种植物内生菌（Epichelfestucae），两种真菌寄生虫（Tolypocladium ophioglossoides和Trichoderma asperellum），以及腐食性模型粗糙脉孢菌（具有内生能力）。这些真菌的无性孢子（分生孢子）将在培养基和宿主植物上萌发以形成菌落。将对所得培养物进行比较基因组学和转录组学。这将为它们共享的遗传编程和它们不同的宿主偏好的进化基础提供深入了解。进化的祖先表达推断将用于鉴定负责致病性的基因。这种方法将确定在孢子萌发过程中基因表达最近发生变化的基因，特别是沿着共同祖先谱系发生的变化，其中关键性状（如宿主特异性或致病形态发生）已经进化。将确定在这七个物种及其祖先的最近进化过程中表达水平显著上调、下调或保守的基因。这些基因将被遗传干扰，由此产生的表型将被调查，以确定其在发病机制中的功能，可能导致在不同情况下控制真菌感染的新技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Fungi interact with their environments and with human life in various ways. Fungal adaptation to their environments has resulted in diverse fungal lifestyles. Just within the fungal class Sordariomycetes, there are examples of mutualistic symbionts living harmoniously with plants; pathogens that damage and kill plants or mammals; fungi that decompose organic matter; fungi that attack other fungi; zombie fungi that parasitize, manipulate, and kill insects. The life history of each of these fungi begins with a simple spore called a conidium. Conidia can be produced rapidly and in huge numbers, and provide the primary means for dispersal to new hosts. This research program will examine changes in gene expression among species during conidium germination and growth on different hosts. This will reveal the evolved features that enable spore germination and host colonization under different conditions to better understand fungus ecology and evolution. The diversity of fungi also renders them an exciting and tractable teaching platform; broader impacts include a fungal ecology education project in which students at Celentano Biotechnology, Health and Medical Magnet School 6th grade students collect, identify, and isolate fungi commonly found on plants and insects. This collaborative research will elucidate the genetic basis of sporulation and evolution of fungal parasitism in Sordariomycetes. This class of fungi contain members that have evolved the capability and specificity to attack plants, insects, fish, mammals, and fungi via in situ spore germination. Seven Sordariomycetes will be studied: two entomopathogens (Metarhizium anisopliae and Cordyceps militaris), a plant pathogen (Fusarium graminearum), a plant endophyte (Epichloe festucae), two mycoparasites (Tolypocladium ophioglossoides and Trichoderma asperellum), and the saprotrophic model Neurospora crassa (with endophytic capabilities). Asexual spores (conidia) of these fungi will be germinated to initiate colonies in medium and on host plants. Comparative genomics and transcriptomics will be performed on the resulting cultures. This will provide insights into their shared genetic programming and into the evolved basis of their divergent host preferences. Evolutionary ancestral expression inference will be used to identify genes responsible for pathogenicity. This approach will identify genes that have undergone recent shifts in gene expression during spore germination-in particular, shifts that occurred along the shared ancestral lineages where key traits (such as host specificity or pathogenic morphogenesis) have evolved. Genes that are substantially upregulated, downregulated, or conserved in level of expression during the recent evolution of each of these seven species and their ancestors will be determined. These genes will be genetically perturbed and the resulting phenotypes will be investigated to determine their function in pathogenesis, potentially leading to new technologies for the control of fungal infections in diverse contexts.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.