This project will support a team of investigators who seek to resolve evolutionary relationships within the fungi. The research will enhance understanding of the ancient evolutionary diversification of the fungi by addressing evolutionary relationships among the major groups of fungi. This study will develop integrated molecular and morphological datasets, which will be freely accessible on the Web. Molecular data will include sequences from a target set of 76 genes that were identified from analyses of known fungal genomes. Morphological data will include characters associated with nuclear and cellular division and the morphological organization of hyphae. In addition the study will develop ontologies for morphological characters to promote further sampling and analytical integration across disparate organisms.

Fungi make up one of the major groups of life, with an estimated diversity of approximately 1.5 million species. These organisms play crucial ecological roles as decomposers, beneficial mutualists, and parasites and pathogens, including pathogens of humans. The economic significance of fungi is almost incalculable as they perform essential ecological functions and impact diverse applied disciplines, including agriculture, medicine, and drug discovery. A better understanding of the early evolutionary history of the Fungi is necessary to expand our knowledge of the history of life of Earth and the evolution of its ecosystems. Phylogenomic analyses and databases for fungi will transform the field of comparative fungal biology and will benefit all fields of fungal biology that rely on an accurate understanding of evolutionary relationships and diversity of Fungi. The bioinformatics tools for managing and analyzing phylogenomic data that will be developed will be broadly applicable across the Tree of Life. Training and outreach activities will include graduate and post-doctoral training, undergraduate training, and outreach to K-12 educators.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
0732993
Program Officer
David Mindell
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2007-09-15
Budget End
2013-08-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$369,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Oregon State University
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Corvallis
State
OR
Country
United States
Zip Code
97331