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

Pezizales是一个多样化的真菌群体，包括高度珍贵的羊肚菌和松露物种，以及许多种类的杯真菌。Pezizales在形态和功能上是多种多样的，这一组包括与植物根一起生长的物种，腐烂死亡有机物的腐养菌和引起植物疾病的病原体。这些真菌也是森林动物的重要季节性食物，一些物种对生存和商业经济都有贡献。然而，对Pezizales的研究还不够充分，他们的家谱关系仍然没有解决。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谱系。然后，这种谱系将用于更好地了解真菌基因组如何影响子实体形式（杯状真菌、羊肚菌和松露）；真菌群体中不同的营养策略是如何进化的；并了解这些真菌如何与环境中的细菌、植物和动物密切相互作用。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地区分布物种的新鲜标本。该项目将导致许多新物种被描述，将提供更好的了解摩尔菌和松露生物学，并将为培育和育种具有重要经济意义的真菌物种提供新的资源。这项研究将产生第一个强大的和全面的基因组为基础的系统发育Pezizales。这将通过生成高质量参考基因组和低覆盖率基因组的组合来完成，这些基因组来自整个佩齐萨莱斯的杯状和松露形式的代表性子集。结合来自Pezizales的同位素、基因组和微生物组数据，本研究将(1)利用广泛的采样努力和公民科学来重建基于基因组的Pezizales系统发育；(2)从模式标本和其他真实材料中生成DNA条形码，以记录多样性和稳定分类学；(3)提高对微生物组对Pezizales营养生态的贡献的认识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

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.