Collaborative Research: REVSYS: RUI: Phylogenetic and Revisionary Systematics of early-diverging, ecologically unique clades of fungi, Harpellales and Asellariales

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。Harpellales和Asellariales中的真菌一生都在昆虫的肠道中度过；他们不能独立成长。它们可能是寄生虫，也可能是与宿主和谐相处的共生动物。真菌与宿主的联系可以追溯到数百万年前。其中一组，Harpellales，主要生活在未成熟的水生昆虫（包括重要的疾病携带者，如蚊子、黑蝇和各种若虫）中，另一组，Asellariales，主要生活在成年等足类动物（包括丸虫）和弹尾动物中。毫不奇怪，对这些真菌的研究很少。新物种经常被发现，它们的进化关系在很大程度上是未知的。这个项目将确定这些真菌存在多少种，它们是如何被识别的，以及它们是如何相关的。该项目将包括在美国进行广泛收集，然后对这些生物及其宿主进行详细研究。进化历史将通过DNA序列推断出来。由于这些真菌寄生在蚊子和黑蝇身上，它们有可能作为生物防治剂。这一群体中的其他真菌已经进化到不杀死宿主的生活方式，但导致这种舒适安排的基因变化尚不清楚。该项目将提供定位和鉴定真菌的基本工具，并将这些鉴定指南发布在网络上。一旦它们可用，就有可能调查真菌的基本生物学，并探索它们对生态系统和社会的价值。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Fungi in the groups Harpellales and Asellariales spend their entire lives in the guts of insects; they cannot grow independently. They may be parasites or may be mutualists that live in harmony with their hosts. The fungal-host associations can be traced back millions of years. One group, Harpellales, lives primarily in immature aquatic insects (including important disease carriers such as mosquitoes and black flies and various nymphs) and the other, Asellariales, in adult isopods (including pill bugs) and springtails. These fungi are, not surprisingly, poorly studied. New species are discovered frequently, and their evolutionary relationships are largely unknown. This project will determine how many species of these fungi exist, how they are identified, and how they are related. The project will involve extensive collecting in the U.S., followed by detailed studies of the organisms and their hosts. Evolutionary histories will be inferred with DNA sequences. Because these fungi parasitize mosquitoes and black flies, they have the potential to serve as biocontrol agents. Other fungi in this group have evolved to live without killing their hosts, but the genetic changes that led to this comfortable arrangement are not known. This project will provide basic tools for locating and identifying the fungi, and will make these identification guides available on the web. Once they are available, it will be possible to investigate the basic biology of the fungi and to explore their value for ecosystems and for society.