Foundational resources to advance genetic tractability for fungi and archaea

Despite their relevance to health, climate, and biotechnology, fungi and archaea remain understudied compared to bacteria. The limited methods available for studying the complex and exotic biology of these non-model microbes have constrained our understanding to only a small number of species. To increase the diversity of fungi that can be manipulated in the laboratory, we propose to build foundational and scalable resources in four key areas: communal data platforms for collaborative organism development, quantitative culture imaging, screens for DNA delivery protocols, and genetic toolkits for functional genomics. For the community, we will aggregate and derive actionable information for genetic tractability in a portal that supports real-time exchange between researchers. For culturing, we will systematically characterize conditions to reproducibly reach desired morphologies. For DNA delivery, we will discover enabling protocols via electroporation, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and biolistics. For molecular toolkits, we will build and validate genetic parts for functional genomics. We will demonstrate these outputs on fungal strains prioritized by a global scientific community. We will also support archaea research through community development and genetic toolkits. This work will accelerate efforts to establish genetic tractability for non-model microbes of scientific and clinical interest, catalyzing work across disciplines and around the world.