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Harvard Forest Research Project 2024
- Title: Surveying Penicillium and Aspergillus across Massachusetts
- Principal investigator: Nicolas Louw (nicolas.louw@tufts.edu)
- Institution: Tufts University
- Primary contact: Nicolas Louw (nicolas.louw@tufts.edu)
- Team members: Benjamin Wolfe
- Abstract:
Despite their importance in biotechnology and the health of plants and animals, little is known about the ecology and natural history of two of the most ubiquitous fungal genera, Penicillium and Aspergillus. Understanding the mechanisms underlying biogeography and niche preferences of these fungi would help elucidate where and how important human and plant pathogens grow in the wild. Furthermore, by potentially discovering novel strains, this research could aid in the discovery of novel molecules for therapeutics as treatments for human diseases. In this project, we propose to sample soils within natural forests and open fields across Massachusetts to quantify the relative abundance and species identity of Penicillium and Aspergillus. At each site, we will record climatic variables including mean annual temperature, precipitation, in addition to soil pH, moisture, and available carbon content. These variables will be used to explain species relative abundance at different sites. We will identify fungal samples from soil using culture-based techniques to create a culture collection of all species identified in Massachusetts. From this collection, we will obtain whole genome sequences to create a revised multilocus phylogeny of Penicillium and Aspergillus. In addition, we will use the whole genome sequences to scan loci strongly correlated with soil and climatic variables, to find traits associated with niche preferences. For preliminary data, we have optimised the soil sampling and processing protocol to selectively isolate Penicillium and Aspergillus at a test site. Furthermore, we have developed a publicly available tool to detect loci associated with trait differences between closely related species (https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14359). We hope that this research would help resolve the ecology and natural history of two iconic, yet poorly understood fungal genera. Lastly, we are enthusiastic to include Harvard Forest as a field site for this project.
