Resolving the phylogeny and uncovering drivers of speciation in the evolutionary radiation of porcini mushrooms (Boletaceae)

新物种产生的过程是生命如何进化的核心问题，理解它不仅为我们的存在提供了解释，而且使我们能够更好地预测生命将如何应对未来的变化。这种可预测性使我们能够更好地保存和保护生物多样性，帮助社会实现可持续的未来。在进化的生命之树上，一个常见的模式是物种创造的快速爆发，这种现象被称为进化辐射。虽然这种辐射在植物和动物中都有充分的记录，但在真菌中却知之甚少，真菌是生命中最多样化的分支之一。为了增加我们对菌类物种进化的理解，这个项目正在使用自上而下和自下而上的方法来了解物种内的遗传变化如何促进新群体的快速发展。该项目将重点关注牛肝菌，这是一种多样化的、分布在全球的、具有经济价值和生态重要性的真菌家族，通过互惠共生来支持木本植物的健康。通过各种推广活动，该项目将通过以下方式解决教育不平等问题：让缺乏科学服务的群体参与对中学生的科学指导，为项目科学家提供公众参与培训计划，为被监禁的成年人和青少年举办教育讲习班，以及在多种媒体上以多种语言传播项目的科学知识。本研究利用大规模高通量测序，以全面的方法来解决系统发育问题，并在真菌众所周知的重要进化辐射的神秘例子中揭示物种分化的驱动因素。该项目将利用世界各地博物馆最近保存的丰富藏品，利用500个物种的全基因组序列建立一个系统基因组数据集，这些物种代表了牛肝菌的地理、分类和形态多样性。通过全基因组霰弹枪测序鉴定出7102个单拷贝基因家族，并使用超矩阵和汇总聚结方法进行分析，以生成高度支持的系统发育。这个系统发育将被用来发展一个现代的，稳定的分类和重建家庭的生物地理。为了深入了解产生这种辐射的物种差异的遗传学，将对分布广泛的肉芽孢杆菌物种复合体的另外600个个体进行基因分型，以建立基因组数据集，从而在种群水平上提供精细的分辨率。单核苷酸多态性将被分析来推断种群结构、人口统计历史和生态物种形成的模式。所获得的知识将依次在整个系统发育中进行检查，以相互阐明导致进化辐射的遗传因素和结果。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。

The process by which new species are created is central to the question of how life evolves and understanding it provides both an explanation for our existence and enables better predictive power to anticipate how life will respond to future change. This predictability allows us to better conserve and protect biodiversity, helping society achieve a sustainable future. One pattern that is common across the evolutionary Tree of Life is rapid bursts of species creation, a phenomenon known as an evolutionary radiation. While such radiations are well-documented for plants and animals, they are poorly known in Fungi, one of the most diverse branches of life. To increase our understanding of how species evolve in the Fungi, this project is using a top-down and bottom-up approach to understand how genetic changes within a species contributes to the rapid development of new groups. The project will focus on the porcini mushrooms, a diverse, globally distributed, economically valuable, and ecologically important family of fungi that support woody plant health through mutualistic symbiosis. Through diverse outreach activities, this project will address educational inequalities by engaging scientifically underserved groups in scientific mentorships of middle school students, a public engagement training program for project scientists, educational workshops for incarcerated adults and youth, and dissemination of the project’s science in diverse media in multiple languages.This research leverages large-scale high-throughput sequencing in a comprehensive approach to resolve the phylogeny and uncover the drivers of species divergence within an enigmatic example of well-known and important evolutionary radiation of Fungi. This project will populate a phylogenomic dataset with whole genome sequences of 500 species that represent the geographic, taxonomic, and morphological diversity of porcini mushrooms by taking advantage of the wealth of recently preserved collections in museums around the world. Seven-hundred and two single copy gene families will be identified from whole genome shotgun sequencing and analyzed using supermatrix and summary coalescent approaches to generate a highly supported phylogeny. This phylogeny will be used to develop a modern, stable taxonomy and to reconstruct the biogeography of the family. To gain insight into the genetics of species divergence that gave rise to this radiation, an additional 600 individuals of the widespread Boletus edulis species complex will be genotyped for a genomic dataset that will provide fine-scale resolution at the population level. Single nucleotide polymorphisms will be analyzed to infer the population structure, demographic history, and patterns of ecological speciation. Knowledge gained will in turn be examined across the phylogeny to reciprocally illuminate the genetic factors that gave rise to and result from an evolutionary radiation.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.