PurSUit: Discovery, characterization, and elucidation of the global patterns and determinants of anaerobic fungal (Neocallimastigomycota) diversity in the herbivorous gut

追求：发现、表征和阐明草食性肠道中厌氧真菌（Neocallimastigomycota）多样性的整体模式和决定因素

• 批准号: 2029478
• 负责人: Mostafa Elshahed
• 金额: $ 76.23万
• 依托单位: Oklahoma State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2029478&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PurSUit; Discovery; characterization; elucidation; global

Herbivores rely on microorganisms residing in their digestive tracts for breaking down ingested grasses and other feedstock into soluble products. This transformation is achieved by the concerted action of a highly diverse microbial community of bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and fungi. Within such intricate assemblages, members of the anaerobic gut fungi (Neocallimstigomycota) remain the most enigmatic. Compared to their physical neighbors in the herbivorous gut or their phylogenetic neighbors in the fungal tree of life, Neocallimastigomycota diversity, ecological preferences, and evolutionary history is poorly understood. This project aims to discover and characterize novel members of the Neocallimastigomycota by implementing an ambitious sampling scheme covering a broad range of wild and domesticated herbivores. The project will also develop innovative approaches for characterizing Neocallimastigomycota diversity using a combination of culture-based as well as culture-independent strategies. In addition to discovering novel microorganisms, the proposal will elucidate factors controlling the occurrence, abundance, and distribution of the Neocallimastigomycota in the herbivorous gut. The research will contribute to workforce training by involving multiple undergraduates and graduate students in research activities, with special emphasis on recruiting students from minorities (Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans) that are underrepresented in science. The researchers will conduct an extensive global-level diversity survey of herbivores that harbor, or putatively harbor, members of the Neocallimastigomycota to fill significant gaps of knowledge regarding their scope of diversity in nature. A broad spatial, temporal and replicate sampling effort will be implemented to fully characterize Neocallimastigomycota diversity on a global scale. The project will provide an updated taxonomic framework for the Neocallimastigomycota, characterize multiple novel taxa, establish minimal and recommended standards for taxa description and naming, establish the utility of novel phylogenetic markers for culture-independent diversity assessments, expand Neocallimastigomycota culture collections, and promote initiatives for storage, sharing, and maintenance of strains. Further, the extensive dataset and associated metadata generated will be utilized by the researchers to address specific questions and hypotheses regarding the ecological and evolutionary drivers shaping Neocallimastigomycota diversity and community structure in herbivores. Specifically, the project will examine the impact of host phylogeny, domestication, host age, and biogeography on Neocallimastigomycota diversity, as well as the evolutionary considerations underpinning Neocallimstigomycota diversity in non-mammalian herbivores.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

食草动物依靠消化道中的微生物将摄入的草和其他原料分解成可溶性产品。这种转变是通过细菌、古细菌、原生动物和真菌等高度多样化的微生物群落的协同作用来实现的。在如此复杂的组合中，厌氧肠道真菌（Neocallimstigomycota）的成员仍然是最神秘的。与食草动物肠道中的物理邻居或真菌生命树中的系统发育邻居相比，新木鞭毛菌门的多样性、生态偏好和进化历史知之甚少。该项目旨在通过实施涵盖广泛野生和驯化食草动物的雄心勃勃的采样计划来发现和表征新调用鞭毛菌门的新成员。该项目还将开发创新方法，结合基于文化和独立于文化的策略来表征新调用鞭毛菌门的多样性。除了发现新的微生物外，该提案还将阐明控制草食性肠道中新客鞭毛菌门的发生、丰度和分布的因素。该研究将通过让多名本科生和研究生参与研究活动来促进劳动力培训，特别注重招募来自科学领域代表性不足的少数族裔（美洲原住民、西班牙裔和非裔美国人）的学生。 研究人员将对栖息或推测栖息新花鞭毛菌门成员的食草动物进行广泛的全球多样性调查，以填补有关其自然多样性范围的重大知识空白。将实施广泛的空间、时间和重复采样工作，以充分表征全球范围内的新Callimastigomycota多样性。该项目将为新Callimastigomycota提供更新的分类框架，描述多个新分类单元的特征，建立分类单元描述和命名的最低和推荐标准，建立新的系统发育标记用于独立于文化的多样性评估的实用性，扩大Neocallimastigomycota培养物收藏，并促进倡议用于菌株的存储、共享和维护。此外，研究人员将利用生成的广泛数据集和相关元数据来解决有关影响草食动物新Callimastigomycota多样性和群落结构的生态和进化驱动因素的具体问题和假设。具体来说，该项目将研究宿主系统发育、驯化、宿主年龄和生物地理学对新调用菌门多样性的影响，以及支持非哺乳动物草食动物新调用菌门多样性的进化考虑。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得获得通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。

项目成果

Testudinimyces gracilis gen. nov, sp. nov. and Astrotestudinimyces divisus gen. nov, sp. nov., two novel, deep-branching anaerobic gut fungal genera from tortoise faeces

细小睾丸菌属

• DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005921
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Pratt, Carrie J.;Chandler, Emily E.;Youssef, Noha H.;Elshahed, Mostafa S.
• 通讯作者: Elshahed, Mostafa S.

Paucimyces polynucleatus gen. nov, sp. nov., a novel polycentric genus of anaerobic gut fungi from the faeces of a wild blackbuck antelope

• DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004832
• 发表时间: 2021-01-01
• 期刊: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Hanafy, Radwa A.;Youssef, Noha H.;Elshahed, Mostafa S.
• 通讯作者: Elshahed, Mostafa S.

Temporal progression of anaerobic fungal communities in dairy calves from birth to maturity

• DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16443
• 发表时间: 2023-06-12
• 期刊: ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 5.1
• 作者: Jones，Adrienne L.;Clayborn，Jordan;Youssef，Noha H.
• 通讯作者: Youssef，Noha H.

Characterization and rank assignment criteria for the anaerobic fungi (Neocallimastigomycota)

厌氧真菌（Neocallimastigomycota）的特征和等级划分标准

• DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005449
• 发表时间: 2022-01-01
• 期刊: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Elshahed, Mostafa S.;Hanafy, Radwa A.;Youssef, Noha H.
• 通讯作者: Youssef, Noha H.

Phylogenomic analysis of the Neocallimastigomycota: Proposal of Caecomycetaceae fam. nov., Piromycetaceae fam. nov., and emended description of the families Neocallimastigaceae and Anaeromycetaceae

• DOI: 10.1101/2022.07.04.498725
• 发表时间: 2022-07
• 期刊: bioRxiv
• 作者: Radwa A. Hanafy;Yan Wang;J. Stajich;Carrie J Pratt;N. Youssef;Mostafa H. Elshahed