Dr. Kathryn E. Bushley, Principal Investigator
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
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I am broadly interested in the ecology and evolution of fungi and their metabolism. My research focuses on secondary metabolite genes and clusters in fungi, particularly those that parasitize insects and other invertebrates. Using various omics technologies (genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics), research in my lab probes the roles fungal metabolites play in symbiotic interactions of fungi with other organisms. My career has spanned diverse training and experience in fungal biology, genetics, and ecology. As a master' student at Duke University in forestry and ecosystem ecology, I first became enamored with fungi investigating how global climate change impacts belowground growth and turnover rates of mycorrhizal root systems. During my PhD in Mycology and Molecular Plant Pathology at Cornell University, I became interested in fungal metabolites and toxins, and my dissertation traced the evolution of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) across the fungal kingdom. I completed two postdoctoral positions working on insect pathogenic fungi. At Oregon State University, I sequenced the genome of the insect pathogenic fungus Tolypocladium inflatum to identify the biosynthetic gene cluster responsible for biosynthesis of the immunosuppresant drug cyclosporin. As an NSF international postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing, China, I worked on the population biology and mating system of himalayan medicinal cordyceps species. I discovered the kingdom Nematoda and began research on nematophagous fungi and their interactions with plants as an Assistant Professor at University of Minnesosta (2014-2021). In my current position as molecular biologist at the USDA-ARS and curator of the ARS Entomopathogenic Fungus (ARSEF) collection (containing over 12,000 fungi and related protists isolated from invertebrates) I continue to be fascinated by the diversity of interactions of fungi with both plant, insect, and nematode hosts and the intricate chemical signals they use to communicate.
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