Fungi

Fungi comprise a massively diverse group that interact with other organisms in many ways of vital importance for natural ecosystems. For example, some fungi cause disease in animals or crop plants, whereas others produce beneficial compounds such as antibiotics or help plants to grow. We are sequencing fungal genomes in order to understand the evolutionary processes that shape harmful and beneficial interactions with other organisms. In particular, we are using frozen living isolates from the CABI culture collection, in collaboration with Dr Matthew Ryan, to track fungal evolution over a timescale of decades.

We sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming's original penicillin-producing mould, using a living sample from the CABI frozen culture collection (Pathak et al. 2020).

Pattern of sharing of putative disease-causing genes among coffee wilt fungal pathogens. Recent isolates specialised on robusta and arabica coffee versus two older isolates that are not host-specific (Peck et al. 2020).

Media coverage and commentaries

Daily Mail, The mould that changed the world: Alexander Fleming's original penicillin fungus is regrown by scientists who sequence its genome for the first time

CNN, 'Scientists sequence the 92-year-old mold that produced the first antibiotic, penicillin'

References

L. D. Peck, R. W. Nowell, J. Flood, M. J. Ryan, T. G. Barraclough. 2021. Historical genomics reveals the evolutionary mechanisms behind multiple outbreaks of the host-specific coffee wilt pathogen Fusarium xylarioides BMC genomics 22, 1-24

Pathak, A., Nowell, R.W., Wilson, C.G., Ryan, M.J., Barraclough, T.G. 2020. Comparative genomics of Alexander Fleming’s original Penicillium isolate (IMI 15378) reveals sequence divergence of penicillin synthesis genes. Sci. Reports. 10:15705