NSF-BSF: Collaborative Research: Developmental genetics of host invasion initiated by fungal spores

真菌以各种方式与环境和人类生活相互作用。真菌对环境的适应导致了真菌生活方式的多样化。就在真菌类Sordariomycetes中，就有与植物和谐共生的例子；破坏和杀死植物或哺乳动物的病原体；分解有机物的真菌；攻击其他真菌的真菌；寄生、操纵和杀死昆虫的僵尸真菌。每一种真菌的生活史都始于一个叫做分生孢子的简单孢子。分生孢子的产生速度快，数量多，是传播到新寄主的主要途径。本研究项目将研究分生孢子在不同寄主上萌发和生长过程中物种间基因表达的变化。这将揭示不同条件下孢子萌发和寄主定植的进化特征，从而更好地了解真菌的生态和进化。真菌的多样性也使它们成为一个令人兴奋和易于处理的教学平台；更广泛的影响包括真菌生态学教育项目，在该项目中，Celentano生物技术，健康和医学磁铁学校六年级的学生收集，识别和分离植物和昆虫上常见的真菌。本合作研究将阐明sordariomyetes产孢的遗传基础和真菌寄生的进化。这类真菌包含的成员已经进化出攻击植物、昆虫、鱼类、哺乳动物和真菌的能力和特异性，通过原位孢子萌发。将研究七种sordariomytes：两种昆虫病原体（绿僵菌和蛹虫草），一种植物病原体（稻谷镰刀菌），一种植物内生菌（Epichloe festucae），两种分枝寄生虫（蛇舌孢霉和曲霉木霉）和腐养模型粗神经孢子菌（具有内生能力）。这些真菌的无性孢子（分生孢子）将在培养基和寄主植物上萌发形成菌落。比较基因组学和转录组学将对所得到的培养进行。这将有助于深入了解它们共享的遗传程序，以及它们不同宿主偏好的进化基础。进化祖先表达推断将用于鉴定致病基因。这种方法将识别在孢子萌发过程中基因表达最近发生变化的基因，特别是发生在关键特征（如宿主特异性或致病形态发生）进化的共同祖先谱系上的变化。在这七个物种及其祖先的最近进化过程中，哪些基因在表达水平上被大幅上调、下调或保守，将被确定。这些基因将受到遗传干扰，由此产生的表型将被研究以确定其在发病机制中的功能，可能导致在不同情况下控制真菌感染的新技术。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。

Fungi interact with their environments and with human life in various ways. Fungal adaptation to their environments has resulted in diverse fungal lifestyles. Just within the fungal class Sordariomycetes, there are examples of mutualistic symbionts living harmoniously with plants; pathogens that damage and kill plants or mammals; fungi that decompose organic matter; fungi that attack other fungi; zombie fungi that parasitize, manipulate, and kill insects. The life history of each of these fungi begins with a simple spore called a conidium. Conidia can be produced rapidly and in huge numbers, and provide the primary means for dispersal to new hosts. This research program will examine changes in gene expression among species during conidium germination and growth on different hosts. This will reveal the evolved features that enable spore germination and host colonization under different conditions to better understand fungus ecology and evolution. The diversity of fungi also renders them an exciting and tractable teaching platform; broader impacts include a fungal ecology education project in which students at Celentano Biotechnology, Health and Medical Magnet School 6th grade students collect, identify, and isolate fungi commonly found on plants and insects. This collaborative research will elucidate the genetic basis of sporulation and evolution of fungal parasitism in Sordariomycetes. This class of fungi contain members that have evolved the capability and specificity to attack plants, insects, fish, mammals, and fungi via in situ spore germination. Seven Sordariomycetes will be studied: two entomopathogens (Metarhizium anisopliae and Cordyceps militaris), a plant pathogen (Fusarium graminearum), a plant endophyte (Epichloe festucae), two mycoparasites (Tolypocladium ophioglossoides and Trichoderma asperellum), and the saprotrophic model Neurospora crassa (with endophytic capabilities). Asexual spores (conidia) of these fungi will be germinated to initiate colonies in medium and on host plants. Comparative genomics and transcriptomics will be performed on the resulting cultures. This will provide insights into their shared genetic programming and into the evolved basis of their divergent host preferences. Evolutionary ancestral expression inference will be used to identify genes responsible for pathogenicity. This approach will identify genes that have undergone recent shifts in gene expression during spore germination-in particular, shifts that occurred along the shared ancestral lineages where key traits (such as host specificity or pathogenic morphogenesis) have evolved. Genes that are substantially upregulated, downregulated, or conserved in level of expression during the recent evolution of each of these seven species and their ancestors will be determined. These genes will be genetically perturbed and the resulting phenotypes will be investigated to determine their function in pathogenesis, potentially leading to new technologies for the control of fungal infections in diverse contexts.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.