TY - CONF A1 - Aumont, Cedric A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter T1 - Immune gene family diversity across insects and Blattodea N2 - Insecta is one of the most diverse phyla in the animal kingdom, with species living in all types of habitats encountering an even greater diversity of pathogens and parasites. Defence strategies against such harmful threats led to a variety of molecular mechanisms, ecological shifts, and genetic innovations. Gene families underlying the molecular basis of the immune responses have evolved within the boundaries given by the species ecology. Here, we explore the evolution of some emblematic immune gene families throughout the Insecta phylum shedding light on remarkable genetic events such as gene duplication or gene loss. We followed a workflow based on the Hidden Markov model to search for immune genes in 55 high-quality genomes of insects. We highlight the emergence of group defence in social species as an ecological shift that released selection pressure on immune gene families notably in Blattodea. Further, we draw attention to certain gene families and the link between their diversity and the specificities of the species’ microbiota. Overall, we report data on immune gene diversity in insects. T2 - International Conference for Blattodea Research CY - Münster, Germany DA - 03.04.2023 KW - Immune gene family KW - Genomics KW - Blattodea PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58298 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - Life on the rocks and other hard surfaces N2 - After their discovery on rock surfaces in cold and hot deserts, a polyphyletic group of ascomycetous black fungi was found to dominate a range of hostile environments – natural and man-made, from salterns to dishwashers, roofs and solar panels. Together with bacteria and algae they may establish subaerial biofilms and cause weathering of the surfaces they grow on. Their impressive survival abilities as well as their constitutive protective pigmentation and cluster-like microcolony organisation are similar in environmental isolates as well as in heat-tolerant opportunistic pathogens of animals and humans. We selected the rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia petricola (class Eurotiomycetes, order Chaetothyriales) that exhibits all the characteristics of microcolonial black fungi such as yeast-like cell growth, absence of reproductive structures and constitutive dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) melanogenesis (Nai et al. 2013, Fungal Genet Biol). We developed protocols to efficiently generate and transform protoplasts resulting in stable homokaryotic transformants by targeting genes involved in pigment synthesis. The differences between the wild-type fungus and its melanin-deficient mutants were tested in geomicrobiological experiments and measured are now discussed in detail, with special accent on the possible effects of the mutation on EPS and other exuded substances. T2 - Departmental colloquium of the Tuscia University CY - Viterbo, Italy DA - 14.02.2020 KW - Ascomycetes KW - Fungal biofilms KW - Material surface colonisation KW - Genetics KW - Genomics KW - Extremophilic fungi PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-50643 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Selbmann, L. A1 - Benkő, Z. A1 - Coleine, C. A1 - de Hoog, S. A1 - Donati, C. A1 - Druzhinina, I. A1 - Emri, T. A1 - Ettinger, C. L. A1 - Gladfelter, A. S. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Grigoriev, I. V. A1 - Grube, M. A1 - Gunde-Cimerman, N. A1 - Karányi, Z. A. A1 - Kocsis, B. A1 - Kubressoian, T. A1 - Miklós, I. A1 - Miskei, M. A1 - Muggia, L. A1 - Northen, T. A1 - Novak-Babič, M. A1 - Pennacchio, C. A1 - Pfliegler, W. P. A1 - Pòcsi, I. A1 - Prigione, V. A1 - Riquelme, M. A1 - Segata, N. A1 - Schumacher, Julia A1 - Shelest, E. A1 - Sterflinger, K. A1 - Tesei, D. A1 - U’Ren, J. M. A1 - Varese, G. C. A1 - Vázquez-Campos, X. A1 - Vicente, V. A. A1 - Souza, E. M. A1 - Zalar, P. A1 - Walker, A. K. A1 - Stajich, J. E. T1 - Shed Light in the DaRk LineagES of the Fungal Tree of Life—STRES JF - Life N2 - The polyphyletic group of black fungi within the Ascomycota (Arthoniomycetes, Dothideomycetes, and Eurotiomycetes) is ubiquitous in natural and anthropogenic habitats. Partly because of their dark, melanin-based pigmentation, black fungi are resistant to stresses including UV- and ionizing-radiation, heat and desiccation, toxic metals, and organic pollutants. Consequently, they are amongst the most stunning extremophiles and poly-extreme-tolerant organisms on Earth. Even though ca. 60 black fungal genomes have been sequenced to date, [mostly in the family Herpotrichiellaceae (Eurotiomycetes)], the class Dothideomycetes that hosts the largest majority of extremophiles has only been sparsely sampled. By sequencing up to 92 species that will become reference genomes, the “Shed light in The daRk lineagES of the fungal tree of life” (STRES) project will cover a broad collection of black fungal diversity spread throughout the Fungal Tree of Life. Interestingly, the STRES project will focus on mostly unsampled genera that display different ecologies and life-styles (e.g., ant- and lichen-associated fungi, rock-inhabiting fungi, etc.). With a resequencing strategy of 10- to 15-fold depth coverage of up to ~550 strains, numerous new reference genomes will be established. To identify metabolites and functional processes, these new genomic resources will be enriched with metabolomics analyses coupled with transcriptomics experiments on selected species under various stress conditions (salinity, dryness, UV radiation, oligotrophy). The data acquired will serve as a reference and foundation for establishing an encyclopedic database for fungal metagenomics as well as the biology, evolution, and ecology of the fungi in extreme environments. KW - Adaptation KW - Black fungi KW - Dothideomycetes KW - Eurotiomycetes KW - Extremophiles KW - Genomics KW - Metabolomics KW - Secondary metabolites KW - Stress conditions KW - Transcriptomics PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-519328 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/life10120362 VL - 10 IS - 12 SP - 362 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51932 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -