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thePeorian.com
The Future
Scientists at NCAUR are
also using genome sequencing
technology to take a global
view of the genetics of entire
communities of microscopic
organisms. Global in this case
means both the world as we
know it and the microscopic
world of the fungi.
“
It allows us to look at a
specific piece of genome in lots
of different strains from all over
the world, all at once, to see how
they are alike and how they are
different,” says Ward. “That large
scale surveillance of pathogens,
or harmful microbes, is needed to
monitor the movement of these
pathogens and to predict and
counter future threats from non-
native pathogens.”
The microscopic world of the
fungal pathogen is contained
in every clump of soil, which is
made up of an entire, interacting
community populated with
a diverse array of fungi and
bacteria. Some are harmful,
some are beneficial and some
are benign. A profile of all the
microbes in the “community
clump” allows researchers to find
out who else is there and how
they survive, how they interact
and whether they are competitors
and ultimately, how to exploit the
knowledge of their behavior.
“
We can learn a lot from
how microbes have interacted
with each other through the
millennia, but again, the process
of teasing out that information
in the past would have taken
years,” Ward explains. “The new
equipment allows us to profile
whole communities — prepare
samples, run sequences, analyze
data, everything — and know in
a week who is in the community
and whether they are ‘good guys’
or ‘bad guys.’”
It’s far too soon to declare
victory in the war against these
tiny invaders. However, better
understanding of the genetics
of the pathogenic fungi and
microbial communities where
they live will help researchers
develop the tools and tactics to
swing the battle in favor of the
microorganisms that can help
us.
