Excellence in Research: Elucidating the mechanisms of fungal bioluminescence through comparative genomic and biochemical approaches

This project will study one of the most unique and interesting phenomena in the biological world, bioluminescence, the ability of some creatures to emit light. Bioluminescence is present in multiple groups of organisms, but occurs by different reactions in different groups, including the fungi. The emission of light by fungi depends on the species, the tissue of the organism, and even differing conditions such as temperature or soil dampness. Discovering the novel molecular mechanisms by which bioluminescence occurs in certain fungi could have applications for biotechnology, agriculture, and even medicine, by developing new bioluminescent methods to mark the presence of different cells or tissues in culture. Through this project, new techniques facilitating such applications will also be developed. This project will also train a new generation of scientific researchers at different levels: Postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school science teachers will be trained in this unique and important research area, who will in turn inspire younger generations of students in this scientific field. While rare, bioluminescence is complex in fungi, in that some species are bioluminescent only in mycelia while other species are bioluminescent in both fruiting body and mycelia. Even more interestingly, different geographic isolates of some fungal species are bioluminescent while others completely lack that ability. Some of the enzymes involved in bioluminescence are known, but not all, and control of the process is poorly understood. This project will focus on two species displaying such complexity. Armillaria mellea is only bioluminescent in mycelia, while Panellus stipticus is bioluminescent in both the fruiting body and mycelia, but only for isolates from certain geographic areas. Comparative genomics and transcriptomics of isolates of both species will be used to determine the differences in gene expression in different tissues and in both species in order to determine the genes involved in control of bioluminescence. A combination of biochemical and genetic approaches will then be employed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which bioluminescence takes place in both species, the variations in function between different tissues, and why only certain geographic isolates are bioluminescent for P. stipticus. Based on such understanding, new techniques for the application of fungal bioluminescence system in biological research and biotechnology will be developed. This proposal is funded by the Excellence in Research program of the Office of Integrative Activities. 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.