PurSUiT: Biodiversity exploration and phylogenetic systematics of the zoosporic fungal phylum Blastocladiomycota

大多数真菌的生物多样性知之甚少，主要是因为大多数真菌物种是显微镜和不可培养的，使它们难以观察。然而，新兴的方法正在消除这些障碍，并允许通过对单个细胞的DNA进行测序而无需培养（单细胞基因组学）来研究真菌。该项目将重点关注一组称为Blastocladiomycota（blastoclads）的水生真菌，这是一组具有独特生命周期和重要生态作用的真菌，包括作为许多昆虫，植物和藻类的病原体。通过整合单细胞基因组学和显微镜观察，该项目将导致新物种的发现和五个主要囊胚谱系的分类学修订，其中包括腔肠菌属，该属长期以来一直被研究为疾病媒介蚊子的潜在生物防治剂。更好地了解该群体的生物多样性和遗传学及其生态相互作用，有助于全球为未来传染病爆发做好准备，并开发可能的生物控制剂。该项目将培养一名博士后和一名研究生，并通过以这些真菌为重点的研讨会和教学模块进行推广。该项目旨在将传统真菌学方法（显微镜、诱饵、培养）大量研究的一组真菌的历史信息与基因组学、单细胞测序和宏基因组学等更现代的分子方法相结合。在密歇根州和热带/亚热带地区的采集旅行将用于诱饵和分离培养物，并收集致病物种的组织和标本用于单细胞测序。30个分类群的基因组测序将被用来评估blastoclad多样性的系统发育背景下。有几个芽生枝属非常需要进行分类修订。该项目将集中在这些属，使用形态学，DNA测序和宿主范围的综合方法来确定适当的物种边界和描述新的分类群。最终的目标是使用环境DNA方法，例如宏基因组学和元编码，以确定囊胚的隐蔽多样性的程度，即，有多少物种尚待取样，并确定哪些生境的囊胚生物多样性特别丰富。这些方法将为未来在被忽视的真菌群体中进行生物多样性探索提供一个模式。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价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Most of the biodiversity of fungi is poorly known largely because most fungal species are microscopic and uncultivatable, making them difficult to observe. However, emerging methods are removing these barriers and are allowing fungi to be studied by sequencing their DNA from individual cells without cultivation (single cell genomics). This project will focus on a group of aquatic fungi called Blastocladiomycota (blastoclads), a diverse group of fungi with unique life cycles and important ecological roles, including acting as pathogens to many insects, plants, and algae. By integrating single cell genomics and microscopic observations, this project will lead to the discovery of new species and taxonomic revision of five major blastoclad lineages, including Coelomomyces, a genus that has long been studied as a potential biocontrol agent of disease-vectoring mosquitoes. A better understanding of the biodiversity and genetics of the group and their ecological interactions can help in global preparedness for future infectious disease outbreaks and development of possible biocontrol agents. This project will involve training of a postdoctoral fellow and a graduate student, and will perform outreach through a workshop and a teaching module that focus on these fungi.This project aims to unite historical information on a group of fungi that has been heavily studied by traditional mycological approaches (microscopy, baiting, cultivation) with more modern molecular approaches that include genomics, single cell sequencing, and metagenomics. Collecting trips in Michigan and tropical/subtropical regions will be used to bait and isolate cultures and to collect tissues and specimens of pathogenic species for single cell sequencing. Genome sequencing of 30 taxa will be used to evaluate blastoclad diversity in a phylogenetic context. Several of the blastoclad genera are greatly in need of taxonomic revision. The project will focus on these genera, using a combined approach of morphology, DNA sequencing, and host range to determine appropriate species boundaries and describe new taxa. A final goal is to use environmental DNA approaches, such as metagenomics and metabarcoding to determine the extent of cryptic diversity of blastoclads, i.e., how many species are yet to be sampled, and to identify habitats that are particularly rich in blastoclad biodiversity. Together these approaches will provide a model for future biodiversity exploration in neglected groups of fungi.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.