The molecular basis of developmental decision-making in filamentous fungi

• Applicant: Professor Dr. André Fleißner
• Subject Area: Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432289836

Filamentous fungi are able to follow different developmental routes in order to adapt to diverse environmental conditions. For example, many fungi grow as saprophytes, but can also exhibit pathogenic behavior in presence of a host organism. Our earlier studies revealed that germinating spores of the grey mold Botrytis cinerea interact and fuse into supracellular networks when growing on hydrophilic surfaces, such as solid agar media. On hydrophobic surfaces, such as the leaves of host plants, however, fusion is suppressed and the fungus forms infection structures. Fusion as well as infectious growth are at least in part controlled by the same signaling network, comprising two MAP kinase cascades, the STRIPAK complex and NADPH oxidase complexes. We therefore hypothesize, that infection and fusion represent two alternative, mutually exclusive developmental routes. In addition, we observed that the same signaling network is also controlling interactions between spores of different species. For example, germlings of the saprophytic red bread mold Neurospora crassa and of B. cinerea grow towards each other. Similar interactions occur between N. crassa and the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma atroviride. We therefore hypothesize that the conserved signaling network might also mediate prey recognition in mycoparasitic species. The goal of this project is to decipher the molecular basis of developmental decision-making in B. cinerea. In addition we are investigating the implications of interspecies interactions and we are testing if mycoparasitism has evolved from the general intraspecies cell-cell communication mechanism. Finally, first strategies for the rational re-programming of fungal development will be established. The obtained data will greatly enhance our understanding of the developmental biology of fungi and might promote the design of new strategies for controlling fungi.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants