This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
The fungi represent a large group of eukaryotic organisms that exhibit a diverse array of cell shapes ranging from highly elongated molds to ovoid yeasts. Results from multiple fungal genome sequencing projects strongly suggest that this diversity is attributable to regulatory mechanisms that specify where and when growth occurs. Although these mechanisms are reasonably well understood in yeasts, it is not known whether or how they might function in molds. Accordingly, the objective of this project is to characterize one of these mechanisms in a divergent set of molds that have a pronounced impact on human welfare. The project will utilize a comparative genetic and molecular approach that relies upon recently developed experimental tools that facilitate the understanding of gene function in molds. Expected results include the demonstration that genetic pathways involved in the regulation of cell shape in yeasts have a broader ancestral role in determining patterns of growth and spore formation in molds. Two key scientific impacts are expected to emerge from this project. First, biologists will acquire an improved understanding of how cell shape is generated in fungi and whether the underlying principles share any features in common with animals and plants. Second, because the formation of specific cell shapes largely determines the capacity of fungi to produce valuable compounds (such as pharmaceuticals and food additives) and to cause disease (such as infections of important crops), it will become possible to better manipulate fungi to our own benefit. Broader impacts of this project include the rigorous training of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in the disciplines of microbiology and genomics.
