Unraveling the Diversity, Evolution, and Origin of Novel Secondary Metabolism in Commensal Microscopic Filamentous Fungi.

Clark University, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

Fungi are important organisms that help break down material in nature and produce useful chemicals, including some used in medicine and farming. This project focuses on a group of unusual fungi called Basidiobolus, which can live in many places such as soil, water, rotting leaves, and even in animal guts. These fungi make a large number of unique chemicals that help them survive and compete with other organisms. Some of the genes that allow them to do this may have come from bacteria, showing a rare example of gene sharing across different kinds of life, or horizontal gene transfer. Studying how Basidiobolus evolved and how it makes these compounds could lead to new discoveries in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. This project also supports students, includes community science for K-12 students, and trains future scientists through mentorship and hands-on learning. The research will study how Basidiobolus makes chemical compounds known as secondary metabolites, using tools from evolutionary biology, genomics, and population genetics. The project will: (1) reconstruct relationships among Basidiobolus species; (2) explore how secondary metabolite genes vary across species and test whether some of these genes were acquired from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer; and (3) examine how natural selection and other evolutionary forces shape these genes within populations. To do this, the researchers will collect samples from around the world, sequence their genomes, and analyze patterns of gene diversity and evolution. This work will fill important gaps in fungal biology and could lead to applications in biotechnology agriculture, and medicine. 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.