NSFDEB-BSF: Evolution of truffles, morels, and relatives (Pezizales) and their interactions with animals, plants, and bacteria

盘菌目是一组不同的真菌，包括高度珍贵的羊肚菌和块菌物种，以及许多种杯状真菌。盘菌目在形式和功能上是多种多样的，这一组包括与植物根、腐烂死亡有机物的腐营养菌和引起植物疾病的病原体合作生长的物种。这些真菌也是森林动物的重要季节性食物，有些物种对生存和商业经济都有贡献。然而，Pezizales的研究不足，它们的谱系关系仍然没有解决。本研究的目的是利用DNA序列和形态学证据来构建这些真菌的系谱。然后，这个谱系将被用来更好地了解真菌基因组如何影响子实体的形式（杯状真菌与羊肚菌与松露）;不同的营养策略如何在真菌群中进化;并了解这些真菌如何与细菌，植物和动物在其环境中密切相互作用。这项研究将促进以色列和美国真菌生物学家之间的新的国际合作，实地收集旅行和科学研讨会将促进与公民科学家的合作和推广，以开发社区资源并获得稀有或区域分布物种的新鲜标本。该项目将导致许多新物种被描述，将提供对羊肚菌和块菌生物学的更好理解，并将为经济上重要的真菌物种的栽培和育种产生新的资源。这项研究将产生第一个强大而全面的基于基因组的盘菌目真菌遗传学。这将通过从整个Pezizales的杯状和松露形式的代表性子集生成高质量参考基因组和低覆盖基因组的组合来实现。结合盘菌目产生的同位素、基因组和微生物组数据，这项研究将（1）利用广泛的采样工作和公民科学来重建盘菌目基于基因组的系统发育;（2）从模式标本和其他真实材料中产生DNA条形码，以记录多样性和稳定分类;以及（3）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产权进行评估来支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Pezizales are a diverse group of fungi that includes highly prized morel and truffle species, as well as many species of cup fungi. Pezizales are diverse in form and function, and this group includes species that grow in partnership with plants roots, saprotrophs that decay dead organic matter, and pathogens that cause plant diseases. These fungi are also an important seasonal food for forest animals, and some species contribute to both subsistence and commercial economies. However, Pezizales are understudied, and their genealogical relationships remain unresolved. The objective of this research is to use DNA sequence and morphological evidence to construct a genealogy for these fungi. This genealogy will then be used to better understand how fungal genomes influence fruiting body form (cup fungi versus morels versus truffles); how different nutritional strategies evolved within fungal groups; and to understand how these fungi intimately interact with bacteria, plants, and animals in their environment. This research will foster new international collaborations between Israeli and US fungal biologists, and field collection trips and scientific workshops will facilitate collaboration and outreach with citizen scientists to develop community resources and obtain fresh specimens of rare or regionally distributed species. This project will lead to many new species being described, will provide a better understanding of morel and truffle biology, and will generate new resources for cultivation and breeding of economically important species of fungi.This research will produce the first robust and comprehensive genome-based phylogeny for Pezizales. This will be accomplished by generating a combination of high-quality reference genomes and low coverage genomes from a representative subset of the cup and truffle forms across the Pezizales. Together with isotopic, genomic and microbiome data generated from Pezizales, this research will (1) leverage broad sampling efforts and citizen science to reconstruct a genome-based phylogeny of the Pezizales; (2) generate DNA barcodes from type specimens and other authentic materials to document diversity and stabilize taxonomy; and (3) improve understanding of the microbiome contribution to Pezizales trophic ecology.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.