Track I IRES Sites: Training with Smut Fungi in Germany

该奖项由OISE和EPSCoR共同资助。植物真菌感染是人类农业持续面临的主要威胁，因此强调了本项目提出的研究的重要性。在PI的美国实验室和德国的两个实验室研究的真菌病原体可以作为理解感染的基本机制的模型，也可以通过宿主转移来理解宿主特异性和新发传染病。期望通过合作方法获得解决这些研究主题的替代观点。这个IRES项目每年为7名学生提供参加交流的机会。虽然这三个实验室都研究真菌，但每个实验室都有自己的专业领域，每个实验室都提供不同的研究方法。每年夏天，所有参与者和项目负责人将在一个统一的小组环境中讨论和展示正在进行的项目，每年交替在波鸿或德国亚琛举行。该项目特别重要，因为它可能导致开发保护农作物免受真菌病害的新方法。此外，该项目将允许学生积极参与，帮助他们培养实验设计技能，并扩大代表性不足群体（特别是非洲裔美国人、妇女和阿巴拉契亚学生）对基础科学的参与。本提案的统一研究主题是宿主/病原体相互作用，包括病原体的毒力和整体适应性的组成部分。这个项目需要在两个德国实验室进行培训，而不是让所有学生在同一个实验室工作。首先，与两个实验室的合作分散了主办实验室的责任，并允许更多的学生（即最多7名）参加每年的交流。预计这些合作研究/培训交流的强大影响将是对文化差异的长期认识和研究问题的替代方法。真菌/宿主相互作用的广泛研究将受益于这种多样化的合作方法，通过简化思想和专业知识的交流。所提出的效应物和蛋白质相互作用的研究将被广泛的科学家使用，这些科学家对基本真菌生物学、宿主-寄生虫相互作用、真菌进化和保护农作物免受真菌疾病的新方法感兴趣，并可能导致更好地了解专性植物-寄生真菌的基本感染机制和疾病过程。为学生提供教育机会，积极参与真菌遗传学，转录组学和生物信息学研究，学习荧光和电子显微镜技术，发展实验设计技能，并将扩大参与基础科学的代表性不足的群体（特别是非洲裔美国人，妇女和阿巴拉契亚学生）。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

This award is co-funded by OISE and EPSCoR.Fungal infection of plants is an ongoing major threat to human agriculture, thus stressing the importance of the research proposed in this project. The fungal pathogens studied in the US lab of the PI and the two labs in Germany, serve as models for understanding basic mechanisms of infections, but also for understanding host specificity and emerging infectious disease through host shifts. It is expected to gain alternative perspectives to address these research themes by the collaborative approaches. This IRES project provides an opportunity to 7 students each year to participate in the exchange. Although all three labs work with fungi, each has its own areas of expertise and each provides different approaches for conducting research. Each summer, a joint meeting will take place with all participants and PIs to discuss and present the ongoing projects in a unified group setting, alternating each year in Bochum or in Aachen, Germany. This project is of particular importance because it may lead to the development of new methods for protecting agricultural crop plants from fungal diseases. Also, this project will allow active participation by students and help them develop skills in experimental design, and broaden participation in basic science by underrepresented groups (especially, African-Americans, women, and Appalachian students).The unifying research theme for this proposal is host/pathogen interaction, including components of virulence and overall fitness of the pathogen. This project requires, and will benefit from, training in the two German labs, rather than having all students work in the same lab. First, the collaboration with two labs spreads the responsibility of the host labs and allows for more students (i.e., up to 7) to participate each year in the exchange. It is expected that the strong impact of these collaborative research/training exchanges will be in the longer-term appreciation of cultural differences and alternative approaches to research questions. The broader investigation of fungal/host interactions will benefit from this varied, collaborative approach by streamlining exchange of ideas and expertise. The proposed effector and protein interaction studies will be used by a wide community of scientists interested in basic fungal biology, host-parasite interactions, fungal evolution, and the development of new methods for protecting agricultural crop plants from fungal diseases and could lead to a better understanding of the basic infection mechanisms and disease process of obligate plant-parasitic fungi. Educational opportunities for students will be provided to actively participate in fungal genetics, transcriptomics and bio-informatics research, to learn fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques, to develop skills in experimental design, and will broaden the participation in basic science by underrepresented groups (specifically, African-Americans, women, and Appalachian students).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.