CAREER: An online global monograph of Magnaporthales - evolution, taxonomy, biogeography and biology of the rice blast fungus and allies

稻瘟病菌（Magnaporthales）是一目真菌，有200余种，含有稻瘟病菌等重要的谷类和禾草致病菌。稻瘟病真菌是水稻最具破坏性的疾病，而水稻是世界上大约一半人口的主要食物来源。尽管Magnaporthales真菌具有重要的科学和经济意义，但对其的研究还不够全面，而且Magnaporthales真菌的多样性、分类和进化关系仍未得到解决。对这些重要病原体使用哪个学名尚未达成共识，这阻碍了世界各地科学家、动植物卫生检查机构和其他用户群体之间的交流。最近国际真菌命名系统的重大变化增加了这些真菌的名称和分布的混乱。该项目将生成未被充分研究的物种的分子数据和进化分析，这些数据将在一本关于Magnaporthales的综合专著中呈现，该专著将免费提供给全球的研究人员和更广泛的用户社区。该研究将为今后开展大麻属植物分类学、遗传学、生物多样性、植物保护和检疫可行性等方面的工作提供参考。本项目的主要目标是：1)利用传统的基于培养的宏基因组测序方法和新一代的宏基因组测序方法，从未被充分研究的草原生态系统中取样，发现、诊断和描述Magnaporthales的新分类群；2)为所有Magnaporthales类群建立健全的系统基因组树；3)利用系统发育学提高我们对Magnaporthales真菌致病性和其他性状进化的认识；4)出版一本关于Magnaporthales的全球专著；5)培养学生和博士后在这些活动的整个范围内进行研究。该项目包括系统基因组学、进化、分类学、生物多样性、有机体生物学和宏基因组学的研究。该全球专著将包括：传统形态学描述、诊断插图、分布图、宿主范围信息、属和种的交互式识别密钥以及DNA条形码。代表性分类群的基因组序列也将被链接到网络专著中。该项目将招收高中生、本科生和研究生，以及一名博士后，重点关注未被充分代表的少数民族的教学和培训。

Magnaporthales, an order of fungi with over 200 species, contains important pathogens of cereals and grasses, including the rice blast fungus. The rice blast fungus is the most destructive disease of rice, which is a staple food source for about half of the world's human population. Despite their scientific and economic importance, Magnaporthales fungi have not been studied comprehensively, and the diversity, taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of Magnaporthales species remain unsettled. There is no consensus on which scientific name to use for these important pathogens, and this impedes communication among scientists, animal and plant health inspection services, and other user communities around the world. Recent major changes in the international naming system for fungi have added to the confusion of names and distributions for these fungi. This project will generate molecular data and evolutionary analyses for the understudied species that will be presented in a comprehensive monograph on the Magnaporthales, which will available online to researchers and the broader user communities worldwide at no cost. This research will facilitate future work on Magnaporthales systematics, genetics, biodiversity, plant protection and quarantine feasibility.The major objectives of this project are: 1) to sample from the understudied grassland ecosystems, and to discover, diagnose and describe new taxa in Magnaporthales using both traditional culture-based and next-generation metagenomic sequencing methods; 2) to build a robust phylogenomic tree for all Magnaporthales taxa; 3) to use the phylogeny in improving our understanding of the evolution of pathogenicity and other traits of Magnaporthales fungi; 4) to produce a global monograph of Magnaporthales; and 5) to train students and postdocs to conduct research across the entire spectrum of these activities. The project includes studies of phylogenomics, evolution, taxonomy, biodiversity, organismal biology and metagenomics. The global monograph of Magnaporthales will include: traditional morphological descriptions, diagnostic illustrations, distribution maps, host-range information, interactive identification keys to genera and species, as well as DNA barcodes. Genomic sequences for the representative taxa also will be linked to the cyber-enabled monograph. The PI will engage high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and a postdoctoral fellow, with a focus on teaching and training of underrepresented minorities.