Collaborative Research: PurSUit: A phylogenetic, genomic, and functional framework for the environmentally diverse and poorly characterized fungal class, Leotiomycete

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Fungi in the group Leotiomycetes are found in all environments where researchers have explored. They are ecologically highly diverse, including economically important disease-causing fungi such as the powdery mildews that attack plants and the fungus that causes White Nose Syndrome in bats. Despite being a large and diverse group of fungi, little is known of the global distribution of this group, their ecological roles, or how these fungi are related to one another. This project will conduct the first large scale expeditions to describe Leotiomycetes fungi on the African continent and in Central America, providing the opportunity to study the evolution of ecological and functional diversity of Leotiomycetes. This effort in turn will provide significant societal benefit by identifying genetic and environmental circumstances that lead to the emergence of novel infectious diseases. Researchers are beginning to understand how microbial community composition and function shift over time, across different environments, and across changing climatic conditions. However, interpretation of these results is impeded when our knowledge of the biodiversity of microbes is incomplete. An accurate understanding of evolutionary relationships is needed to understand their functional roles, and the consequences of their presence or absence in particular environments. Through this project the researchers will expand knowledge of Leotiomycetes diversity beyond Europe by collecting samples in under-sampled regions of the world, resulting in the description of dozens of new species. Next, this project will describe the diversity of small, unculturable or difficult to culture but environmentally abundant members of Leotiomycetes. Those so called “dark taxa” will be described by using single-cell genomics of environmental samples, in parallel with culturing techniques to isolate rare or slow-growing microbes. Their functional roles will also be elucidated using RNA transcript sequencing. Finally, using whole genomes, this project will generate a new class-level phylogenetic framework. This project will, inevitably, detect currently unrepresented orders, families, and genera from either pure cultures or from fresh fruiting bodies collected through field work, further broadening its scientific impact.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.