Systematics of Magnaporthaceae: Understanding Evolution of the Rice Blast Fungus and Allied Species Using Phylogenetic, Phylogenomic and Comparative Genome Analysis

木兰科植物含有毁灭性的谷物和草类真菌病原体，如稻瘟菌和草坪草的夏季斑块病原菌，它们是寻求了解发病机理和真菌生物学的研究中常用的模式系统。尽管木兰科在生态和经济上具有重要意义，但它们与其他真菌科的关系以及组成属之间的关系仍然不明确。这阻碍了对发病机制和生态成功的理解。将使用下一代测序方法为具有代表性的物种生成新的DNA序列数据。这项研究的目标是：1)利用系统发育和系统发育分析来划分木兰科的范围，并解决该科之间的关系；2)生成木兰科部分物种的基因组草图；3)发现和描述木兰科的新种。木兰科植物是研究真菌病原生物与寄主植物相互作用的模式系统。这些新颖的数据将增加由NSF资助的“生命之树”项目和其他国家和国际倡议产生的迅速增长的真菌基因组数量。它们将导致更好地理解基因组和基因家族的进化，以及这种进化如何导致真菌致病的能力。

The family Magnaporthaceae contains devastating fungal pathogens of cereals and grasses, such as the rice blast fungus and summer patch pathogen of turfgrasses, which are popular model systems in studies that seek to understand pathogenesis and fungal biology. Despite their ecological and economic importance, the relationships of Magnaporthaceae to other fungal families and of the constituent genera to one another remain ambiguous. This hinders advancement toward the understanding of pathogenesis and ecological success. New DNA sequence data will be generated for representative species using next-generation sequencing methods. The objectives of the study are to: 1) circumscribe the Magnaporthaceae and to resolve relationships of and within the family using phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses; 2) generate draft genome assemblies of selected species in the Magnaporthaceae; 3) discover and describe new species in the Magnaporthaceae. Magnaporthaceae serves as a model system for understanding interactions between fungal pathogenic organisms and their host plants. The novel data will augment a rapidly growing number of fungal genomes generated by NSF-funded "tree of life" projects and other national and international initiatives. They will lead to a better understanding of the evolution of genomes and gene families and of how this evolution leads to the ability of fungi to become pathogenic.