Fungal Molecular Ecology (FuME)

Group Overview

Fungi play an essential role in maintaining a healthy, functioning habitat, e.g. as the agents of decay or as mycorrhizal plant symbionts. Industrially, they are used to produce food (inc. mushrooms), enzymes and chemicals, with increasing interest in their use to convert plant biomass into useful compounds and biofuels.

The Swansea Fungal Molecular Ecology group focuses on fungi that drive lignocellulose decay. Many fungi are able to decompose complex lignocellulosic substrates (e.g. wood), yet in nature, wood decay is usually brought about by a community of microorganisms that change over time. We aim to understand the mechanisms of decomposition through the application of mulitiomics technologies and explain how interactions between decay fungi drive successional change in the decaying community.

Additional research of the group includes aspects of mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) cultivation, rare dune orchid (Liparis loeselii) symbionts, and the regulation of entomopathogenesis by Metarhizium spp.

Associated Research Project

Unravelling mechanisms of wood decay fungal community change in the post-genomic era (Funding: NERC)
Whose wood is it anyway? Interspecific interactions between saprotrophic Agaricomycetes and the impact on wood decomposition (Funding: NERC)
Genomes to dynamic decay communities: Understanding fungal interactions during early decomposition events in a natural lignocellulosic substrate (Funding: FICUS via EMSL and JGI, USA Dept of Energy)
MicroRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation of fungal pathology of insect hosts (Funding: Saudi Arabian Government)
Resource competition, context-dependent interactions, co-existence and the succession of decomposer communities in variable environments (Funding: Swansea University)
Genomic analysis of the dry rot fungus Seprula lacrymans

Affiliated Staff

Prof Daniel Eastwood

Collaborative / Industry Partners

Prof Lynne Boddy, Cardiff University
Guy Barker, Warwick University

Research Centres

Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Natural Products and Environmental Resources

Publications

O’Leary, J. Eastwood, D., Muller, C., Boddy, L. (2018). Emergent properties arising from spatial heterogeneity influence community dynamics. Fungal Ecology. 33, 32-29. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1754504818300485?via%3Dihub
Balasundaram, SV, Hess, J., et al., Eastwood, D.C., Skrede, I. (2018). The fungus that came in from the cold: Dry rot’s pre-adapted ability to invade buildings. ISME Journal 12(3), 791-801. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-017-0006-8
Nurika, I. Eastwood, DC, Barker, GC. (2018). A comparison of ergosterol and PLFA methods for monitoring the growth of ligninolytic fungi during wheat straw solid state cultivation. Journal of Microbiological Methods. 148: 49-54. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167701218301969?via%3Dihub
Moody SC., Dudley, E., Hiscox, J., Boddy, L., Eastwood, DC. (2018). Interdependence of primary metabolism and xenobiotic mitigation characterizes the proteome of Bjerkandera adusta during wood decomposition. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 84(2):e01401-17. https://aem.asm.org/content/84/2/e01401-17
Goodell, B., Zhu, Y., Kim, S., Kafle, K., Eastwood, D., Daniel, G., Jellison, J., Yoshida, M., Groom, L, Venkatesh Pingali, S., O’Neil, H. (2017). Modification of nanostructure of lignocellulose cell walls via a non-enzymatic lignocellulose deconstruction system in brown rot wood-decay fungi. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 10(1), 179. https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13068-017-0865-2
Eastwood, D., Green, J., Grogan, H., Burton, K. (2015). Viral agents causing brown cap mushroom disease of Agaricus bisporus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 81(20): 7125-7134. https://aem.asm.org/content/81/20/7125
Eastwood, DC, Herman, B, Noble, R, Dobrovin-Pennington, A, Sreenivasaprasad, S, Burton, KS (2013). Environmental regulation of reproductive phase change in Agaricus bisporus by 1-ocetn-3-ol, temperature and CO2. Fungal Genetics and Biology 55: 54-66. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087184513000030?via%3Dihub
Butt, T.M., Greenfield, B.P.J., Grieg, C., Maffeis, T.G.G, Taylor, J.W.D, Piasecka, J., Dudley, E., Abdulla, A., Dubovskiy, I.M., Garrido-Jurado, I, Quesada-Moraga, E., Penny, M.W., Eastwood, D.C. (2013). Metarhizium anisopliae pathogenesis of mosquito larvae: A verdict of accidental death. PLoSONE. 8(12): e81686. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081686
Floudas D, et al, Benoit I, Boyd Pisabarro A, Eastwood DC, Martin F, Cullen D, Grigoriev IV, Hibbett DS. (2012). The Paleozoic origin of enzymatic lignin decomposition reconstructed from 31 fungal genomes. Science. 336: 1715-1719. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6089/1715
Fernandez-Fueyo E, et al, Eastwood D, Grigoriev IV, Berka RM, Blanchette RA, Kersten P, Martinez AT, Vicuna R, Cullen D. (2012). Comparative genomics of Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Phanerochaete chrysosporium provide insight into selective ligninolysis. PNAS 109: 5458-5463. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/14/5458
Morin E, et al, Eastwood DC, Foster GD, Sonnenberg ASM, Cullen D, de Vries RP, Lundell T, Hibbett DS, Henrissat B, Burton KS, Kerrigan RW, Michael P. Challen MP, Grigoriev IV, Martin F. (2012). Genome sequence of the button mushroom Agaricus bisporus reveals mechanisms governing adaptation to a humic-rich ecological niche. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 109: 17501-17506. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/43/17501
Watkinson, SC, Eastwood, DC (2012). Serpula lacrymans wood and buildings. Advances in Applied Microbiology. 78: 121-149. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123948052000051?via%3Dihub
Eastwood DC, et al., (2011). The plant cell wall-decomposing machinery underlies the functional diversity of forest fungi. Science 333: 762-765. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6043/762
Koncsaig, C.I., Eastwood, D.C., Kirwan, K. 2011. Recovering low molecular weight extractives from degraded straw by oyster mushroom at the farm scale for high value use. Biomass and Bioenergy. 35(7): 3276-3279. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953411002534?via%3Dihub
Koncsaig, C.I., Eastwood, D.C., Collis, A.E.C., Coles, S.R., Clark, A.J., Kirwan, K., Burton, K. (2012). Extracting valuable compounds from straw degraded by Pleurotus ostreatus. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 59: 14-22. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344911000632

Project Contact

Prof Daniel Eastwood