EAGER: Does host specificity drive species diversification of fungal endophytes?

该项目将研究一组微小真菌的生态和进化，这些真菌生活在植物叶片内(称为内生植物)，但似乎不会对植物宿主造成伤害。内生真菌是真菌中种类最多的一类，但总体上仍知之甚少。理解内生真菌如何进化的一个关键障碍是缺乏一个特征良好的内生真菌模式物种，以及关于其生物学、全球分布、进化史和基因组特征的基本知识基础。这个项目的目标是为松树最常见的内生真菌Lophoderum属发展这一基础知识。研究人员将使用系统发育和比较基因组学方法来测试内生物种如何与植物寄主和环境相关的多样性。结果将导致发现和描述科学上新的内生真菌物种，以及将加速描述其他物种的新技术。这项研究的更广泛影响将为保护神秘的生物多样性提供新的见解，并促进发现新的真菌生物化学物质，如用于生物燃料生产的抗生素和酶。研究人员将培训研究生和本科生，包括代表不足的群体的成员，涉及从进化生态学、生物信息学到分子工程的不同学科。该项目将对Lophoderum(约100个种；子囊菌门、子囊菌纲)进行第一次综合的全球系统基因组研究，以了解植物-内生真菌共生相互作用的多样性和特殊性。这项研究将解决与真菌内生菌物种起源和多样性有关的基本生态学和进化问题，特别是如何适应不同的植物寄主物种可能导致内生菌物种形成。将生成不同Lophoderum物种的基因组和转录组数据，以帮助识别有助于物种形成和适应松树寄主物种的潜在分子特征。该项目还将开发工具，如原位荧光探针和网络平台，这些工具将改变目前探索、分析和合成隐蔽内生真菌生活史的方法。项目成果将通过建立植物和微生物参考库以及开放获取软件来加强研究基础设施，以加快研究合作和分类数据的合成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will study the ecology and evolution of a group of microscopic fungi that live inside plant leaves (called endophytes), but do not appear to cause harm to their plant hosts. Endophytic fungi are one of the most diverse groups of fungi yet remain poorly known overall. A critical barrier to understanding how endophytic fungi evolve is the lack of a well-characterized model endophyte species and a foundation of basic knowledge about its biology, global distribution, evolutionary history and genome characteristics. The goal of this project is to develop this foundational knowledge for the most common endophytic fungus of pine trees, the genus Lophodermium. Researchers will use phylogenetic and comparative genomic methods to test how the endophytic species have diversified in relation to their plant hosts and their environment. Results will lead to the discovery and description of endophytic fungal species new to science and new techniques that will accelerate the characterization of others. Broader impacts of the research will yield new insights for conserving cryptic biodiversity and facilitate the discovery of novel fungal biochemicals, such as antibiotics and enzymes for biofuel production. Researchers will train graduate and undergraduate students, including members of under-represented groups, in diverse disciplines ranging from evolutionary ecology and bioinformatics to molecular engineering. This project will generate the first integrative, global phylogenomic study of Lophodermium (ca. 100 species; Class Leotiomycetes, Phylum Ascomycota) to understand the diversity and specificity of the plant-endophyte symbiotic interaction. This research will address fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions concerning the origin and diversification of fungal endophyte species, specifically addressing how adaptations to different plant host species may lead to the speciation of endophytes. Genomic and transcriptomic data of diverse Lophodermium species will be generated to help identify underlying molecular signatures that have contributed to speciation and adaptation to Pinus host species. The project will also develop tools, such as in situ fluorescence probes, and cyber-platforms that will transform the current approach to exploring, analyzing and synthesizing the life history of cryptic endophytes. Project outcomes will strengthen research infrastructure by building plant and microbial reference collections as well as open-access software to speed research collaborations and syntheses of taxonomic data.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.