Megan Nickerson

“Genome Evolution of Plant Pathogenic and Symbiotic Fungi”

Megan Nickerson, PhD Candidate, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University

Abstract
Kingdom Fungi represents a highly diverse lineage of Eukaryota, with an estimated 2 – 11 million fungal species (Blackwell 2011; Hawksworth and Lücking 2017). Land plant associations have been central to the diversification of fungi (Lutzoni et al. 2018), and the majority of fungal species associate with plants or green algae either as symbionts or saprotrophs (Aguileta et al. 2009; Blackwell 2011; Phukhamsakda et al. 2022). With the exception of a few specialized lineages, parasitic, mutualistic, and saprophytic fungal species are interspersed across the fungal tree of life, supporting the hypothesis that transitions between trophic modes have occurred repeatedly over evolutionary time (Aguileta et al. 2009; Rodriguez et al. 2009). Increased analysis of fungal genomes has led to the identification of various genes (effector genes, CAZyme genes, etc.) contributing to observed ecological roles (Gluck-Thaler and Slot 2018; Rokas et al. 2020). Additionally, fungal genomes are unique in the arrangement genes involved in the biosynthesis and catabolism of secondary metabolites (SMs). “Metabolic gene clusters” (MGCs) are physically clustered genes typically encoding enzymes or SMs, as well as transporters and transcription factors (Rokas et al. 2020). Fungal MGCs have been linked to the production of plant specific toxins, catabolism of plant defense compounds, and SM production of various functions (Slot et al. 2017). My presentation will address the following questions: what methods are used to detect MGCs in fungal genomes, what is the evolutionary history and function of fungal MGCs, what is the adaptative advantage of gene clustering for fungi, and how does the presence of MGCs impact the ecological niche they occupy?

For more information regarding Megan’s seminar, please see the seminar announcement.