Mechanisms of Gene Flow in Pathogenic Fungi allowing Fungal Adaptation

Gene flow between individual fungi both within and between populations is a key factor allowing fungi to respond and adapt to hosts and environmental change, because individuals and groups with more favourable combinations of genes are then selected for. However, many of the mechanisms controlling genetic exchange between fungi remain poorly understood. In this international multi-partner collaborative project a key goal is to investigate and determine the underlying molecular mechanisms controlling processes such as fungal male and female sexuality, high crossing fertility, mate choice, and pathogen clade delineation due to incompatibility barriers. All of these impact on the possibility for gene flow and are a fundamental part of the biology of fungal adaptation. For these studies we plan to use selected cross-kingdom animal and plant pathogens, including both filamentous fungi and yeasts as models. Work will draw on recent developments in genomic, QTL/X-QTL, BSA, CRISPR-Cas9 and barcoding analyses which offer breakthrough possibilities to study these topics. In addition, a second goal is to examine how gene flow through mating might impact on fungal adaptation regarding resistance to heat, with implications for the threat of emergence of fungal disease linked to climate change. Key words: Sexual Reproduction, Parasexuality, Gene Flow, Adaptation