Project group (principal investigator: Minou Nowrousian) at the Department of General and Molecular Botany at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

Filamentous fungi grow in form of hyphae (elongated, branched cell filaments). They can aggregate to form complex structures, e.g. fruiting bodies in which spores are formed. We are interested in the genetic basis of these differentiation processes. To analyze how fruiting body formation is regulated at the molecular level, we use mutant strains that are blocked at early stages of development and compare gene expression in the mutants to that of the wild type using microarray analyses and quantitative real time PCR. Additionally, we compare gene expression in several fungal species to identify expression patterns that are evolutionary conserved (comparative functional genomics). Genes with similar regulation will help to define a core group of genes involved in fungal fruiting body development. More details about these projects can be found on the projects page or in several publications.

New: We have sequenced the Sordaria macrospora genome using next-generation sequencing techniques!

The genome was sequenced and assembled from a combination of Solexa and 454 reads. More information can be found on the projects page. Click here for genome browser and here for downloads.

Publication:

Nowrousian M, Stajich JE, Chu M, Engh I, Espagne E, Halliday K, Kamerewerd J, Kempken F, Knab B, Kuo HC, Osiewacz HD, Pöggeler S, Read ND, Seiler S, Smith KM, Zickler D, Kück U, Freitag M (2010) De novo assembly of a 40 Mb eukaryotic genome from short sequence reads: Sordaria macrospora, a model organism for fungal morphogenesis. PLoS Genet 6(4): e1000891. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000891 Paper at PLoS Genetics pdf

New Review: Next-generation sequencing for eukaryotic microorganisms

Nowrousian M (2010) Next-generation sequencing techniques for eukaryotic microorganisms: sequencing-based solutions to biological problems. Eukaryot Cell 9: 1300-1310 Abstract pdf