CAREER: The developmental response of a parasitic chytrid fungus to amphibian mucus

职业：寄生壶菌对两栖动物粘液的发育反应

• 批准号: 2143464
• 负责人: Lillian Fritz-Laylin
• 金额: $ 105万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-15 至 2026-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2143464&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; developmental; response; parasitic; chytrid

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117- 2). The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis engages in a parasitic interaction with frogs that is decimating hundreds of amphibian species around the world. B. dendrobatidis grows in amphibian skin that is coated in mucus. The goal of this project is to determine how B. dendrobatidis responds to exposure to molecules found in amphibian mucus. Establishing the molecular mechanism by which mucus induces changes in B. dendrobatidis may be used to develop remediation strategies to reverse the decline in amphibians caused by B. dendrobatidis infection. A hands-on laboratory course will be developed resulting in an authentic research experience for ~24 students per year for the duration of the project. These students will gain practical experience in designing, executing, and interpreting the results of their own experiments, preparing them to participate in the STEM workforce. The development, evaluation, and dissemination of a modular laboratory course framework will allow additional University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty, as well as extra-mural faculty, to develop new courses and/or quickly revise existing courses to improve scientific reasoning in undergraduate students. Finally, the adaptation of these materials into a workshop for middle school girls will broaden participation in STEM fields.B. dendrobatidis is one of 1000 species of chytrid fungus, many of which form ecologically important symbioses with plants, animals, and microbes. Like all chytrids, the lifecyle of B. dendrobatidis comprises two stages: a dispersal form called a zoospore that swims through aquatic environments, and a growth form called a sporangium that grows and produces new zoospores. The transition between the dispersal and growth form is an essential developmental process called encystation. This project will test the central hypothesis that B. dendrobatidis zoospores sense their host by the presence of mucin, the bulk component of mucus, and respond by inducing a cellular response that results in encystation. To test this hypothesis, the project will combine quantitative microscopy, developmental assays, and chemical genetics in the following objectives: OBJECTIVE 1: Identify developmental and cellular alterations of B. dendrobatidis induced by mucin exposure. OBJECTIVE 2: Identify signaling pathways controlling mucin-induced encystation. OBJECTIVE 3: Develop, evaluate, and disseminate a modular lab course framework that teaches students to evaluate the quality of scientific information. This framework will be used to develop a course in which groups of students will identify environmental cues that could induce encystation in other symbiotic and free-living chytrid species. The successful completion of these objectives will fill a gap in the understanding of the developmental pathways and host interactions that mediate B. dendrobatidis infection.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.

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117- 2）资助。壶菌与青蛙的寄生相互作用正在毁灭世界各地数百种两栖动物。B。Dendrobatidis生长在两栖动物的皮肤上，皮肤上覆盖着粘液。这个项目的目标是确定如何B。树枝蛙对两栖类粘液中的分子有反应。建立粘液诱导B变化的分子机制。石斛可用于开发补救策略，以扭转由B引起的两栖动物减少。树枝状芽孢杆菌感染 将开发一个实践实验室课程，在项目期间每年为约24名学生提供真实的研究体验。这些学生将获得设计，执行和解释自己实验结果的实践经验，为他们参加STEM劳动力做好准备。模块化实验室课程框架的开发，评估和传播将允许额外的马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学的教师，以及校外教师，开发新的课程和/或快速修改现有的课程，以提高本科生的科学推理。最后，将这些材料改编成中学女生讲习班将扩大对STEM领域的参与。石斛是1000种壶菌之一，其中许多与植物、动物和微生物形成生态上重要的共生体。像所有壶菌一样，B的生活方式。树孢菌包括两个阶段：游动孢子的传播形式，它在水生环境中游动;以及孢子囊的生长形式，它生长并产生新的游动孢子。在扩散和生长形式之间的转变是一个重要的发育过程，称为包囊形成。这个项目将测试中心假设，即B。树枝状芽孢杆菌游动孢子通过粘液的主要成分粘蛋白的存在来感知它们的宿主，并通过诱导导致包囊形成的细胞反应来应答。为了验证这一假设，该项目将结合联合收割机定量显微镜，发育分析，和化学遗传学在以下目标：目标1：确定发育和细胞的变化B。粘蛋白暴露诱导的树枝状芽孢杆菌。目的2：确定控制粘蛋白诱导的包囊形成的信号通路。目标3：开发，评估和传播模块化实验室课程框架，教学生评估科学信息的质量。这个框架将被用来开发一门课程，在该课程中，学生群体将确定环境线索，可能会导致在其他共生和自由生活的壶菌物种的包囊。这些目标的成功完成将填补一个空白的发展途径和主机的相互作用，介导B的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是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的支持。

项目成果

Amphibian mucus triggers a developmental transition in the frog-killing chytrid fungus

两栖动物粘液触发杀死青蛙的壶菌的发育转变

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.006
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Current Biology
• 影响因子: 9.2
• 作者: Robinson, Kristyn A.;Prostak, Sarah M.;Campbell Grant, Evan H.;Fritz-Laylin, Lillian K.
• 通讯作者: Fritz-Laylin, Lillian K.