Biodiversity of Cryptic Fungal Symbionts, Harpellales, Living Within the Guts of Aquatic Insects in North America

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

NSF BS&I Proposal 0344722 Merlin M. White, PI Fungi belonging to the order Harpellales (class Trichomycetes) live hidden within the guts of immature aquatic insects, such as mayflies, stoneflies, and many kinds of lower dipterans (mosquitoes, blackflies, midges, etc.). The symbiotic relationships with their hosts are usually commensalistic or neutral, but some fungi can provide nutrients to the insect hosts to allow more rapid host development when food is suboptimal in the environment. Other fungal species are parasitic at some stage of the insect development. Though Harpellales are known to be worldwide, all evidence suggests that only a fraction of the fungal species is known, that in this study many new host types will be found, and that new symbiotic relationships will be discovered. Intensive field work will reveal the species richness of Harpellales in North America, to include USA, Canada, and Mexico, the latter country being unexplored to date. Participants will include mycological and entomological collaborators in each country, and student trainees. New species will be cultured when possible. and extraction of DNA from cultures as well as directly from fungi within the gut will be used for sequencing and cladistic analysis to strengthen phylogenetic studies within the Harpellales and to determine more accurately their relationships with other fungi, thus producing more substantial hypotheses on the origins and evolution of these symbionts and a better understanding of their current and historical biogeography. A comprehensive worldwide database of all Harpellales worldwide will be developed to include information on the taxonomy of fungi and hosts, and collection data on geographical distributions, types of habitats, and other pertinent information. Interactive keys to all known species will be produced. All of this information, including descriptions of new species and images, will be available and added to an existing monograph on the Internet (www.nhm.ku.edu/~fungi). Also provided on the Internet and in compact disk format will be instructions to mycologists, entomologists, and students on methods of collecting, dissecting, culturing, and studying these cryptic fungi in insects.