School of Life Sciences' Friday Seminar

October 16, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Zoom Only

"The Shattered Genome of Basidiobolus, a Gut Fungus of Reptiles and Amphibians" Speaker: Dr. Lluvia Vargas Gastelum Research Associate, Postdoctoral Scholar Oregon State University *Abstract: Basidiobolus is a zygomycete fungus best known for being associated with the gut microbiome of amphibians and reptiles. Previous reports of two Basidiobolus species suggest genomes of ~100 Mb with more secondary metabolism genes than other zygomycetes. A significant proportion of these genes exhibit evolutionary relationships with non-ribosomal peptide synthases from Bacteria, including genes annotated to produce surfactins, and siderophores. These evolutionary relationships are consistent with many of these genes being acquired by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria. In addition to the complexity of the HGT in Basidiobolus, the genome assemblies suggest there are hundreds of chromosomes in each of the genomes, resulting in a fragmented architecture. This study presents an analysis of the genome architecture of different Basidiobolus reference genomes and of strains isolated from various species of amphibians and reptiles. Zoom: https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/5869735830?omn=86168607779 Passcode: botany


Event Sponsor
School of Life Sciences, Mānoa Campus

More Information
808-956-8655

Share by email