Title | The future of fungi: threats and opportunities. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Authors | Case, NT, Berman, J, Blehert, DS, Cramer, RA, Cuomo, C, Currie, CR, Ene, IV, Fisher, MC, Fritz-Laylin, LK, Gerstein, AC, N Glass, L, Gow, NAR, Gurr, SJ, Hittinger, CTodd, Hohl, TM, Iliev, ID, James, TY, Jin, H, Klein, BS, Kronstad, JW, Lorch, JM, McGovern, V, Mitchell, AP, Segre, JA, Shapiro, RS, Sheppard, DC, Sil, A, Stajich, JE, Stukenbrock, EE, Taylor, JW, Thompson, D, Wright, GD, Heitman, J, Cowen, LE |
Journal | G3 (Bethesda) |
Date Published | 2022 Sep 30 |
ISSN | 2160-1836 |
Abstract | The fungal kingdom represents an extraordinary diversity of organisms with profound impacts across animal, plant, and ecosystem health. Fungi simultaneously support life, by forming beneficial symbioses with plants and producing life-saving medicines, and bring death, by causing devastating diseases in humans, plants, and animals. With climate change, increased antimicrobial resistance, global trade, environmental degradation, and novel viruses altering the impact of fungi on health and disease, developing new approaches is now more crucial than ever to combat the threats posed by fungi and to harness their extraordinary potential for applications in human health, food supply, and environmental remediation. To address this aim, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund convened a workshop to unite leading experts on fungal biology from academia and industry to strategize innovative solutions to global challenges and fungal threats. This report provides recommendations to accelerate fungal research and highlights the major research advances and ideas discussed at the meeting pertaining to 5 major topics: (1) Connections between fungi and climate change and ways to avert climate catastrophe; (2) Fungal threats to humans and ways to mitigate them; (3) Fungal threats to agriculture and food security and approaches to ensure a robust global food supply; (4) Fungal threats to animals and approaches to avoid species collapse and extinction; and (5) Opportunities presented by the fungal kingdom, including novel medicines and enzymes. |
DOI | 10.1093/g3journal/jkac224 |
Alternate Journal | G3 (Bethesda) |
PubMed ID | 36179219 |
Grant List | R01 AI136735 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI039115 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R37 AI093808 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI139632 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R21 AI156157 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R37 AI066224 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI127375 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States U19 AI166798 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI133654 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI120958 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States FDN-154288 / / CIHR Foundation / R01 AI050113 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI093808 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R01 AI146584 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States R35 GM143039 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States |