Abstract Detail

Evolution of Hyphal Function and Development

Trail, Frances [1], Fellows, Kayla [1], Cubba, Caitlyn [1], Hoffman, Tiana [1], Wang, Zheng [2], Townsend, Jeffrey [3].

Evolution of perithecium morphology through transcriptomics.

A great diversity in fruiting body forms is characteristic of the classes of the Ascomycota.  We seek to understand the mechanisms involved in generating this morphological diversity. We hypothesize that genes whose expression has been significantly upregulated in one lineage compared to the others would be involved in changes in fruiting body morphology. To this end, we have performed transcriptional profiling of five species of Neurospora and Fusarium during six stages of perithecium development.  We estimated the ancestral transcriptional shifts during the developmental process among the species and identified genes whose transcription had substantially and significantly shifted during the evolutionary process. To test our hypothesis, we examined genes whose expression greatly increased in Fusarium graminearum perithecium development.  Functional studies through gene disruption resulted in substantial changes in perithecium morphology in the mutants of many of these genes. These genes were not previously identified as candidates for function in perithecium development, illustrating the utility of this method for identification of genes associated with specific functional processes. In addition, the genes were frequently associated with morphologies that distinguished Fusarium from Neurospora.

1 - Michigan State University, Plant Biology, 612 Wilson Road, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
2 - Yale Univeristy, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
3 - Yale University, Yale Center for Analytical Sciences, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

Keywords:
fruiting body
Sordariomycetes
Perithecia.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY6
Location: Room 104 AB/Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
Date: Tuesday, June 10th, 2014
Time: 1:00 PM
Number: SY6001
Abstract ID:87
Candidate for Awards:None