Genetics, Vol. 157, 933-933, March 2001, Copyright © 2001

FOREWORD

Foreword to the Special Section on Fungal Genomics

IN the new millennium, the challenge is to use sequenced genomes to predict how living systems evolve and function. The fungi as simple eukaryotes display emergent properties like development, aging, mating, pathogenicity, transvection, and gene silencing. Yet as microbial systems they provide unique opportunities to develop novel global approaches in genomics and computational biology to explain emergent phenomena. At least 10 fungal genomes will be sequenced in the next 5 years. Genome projects for Neurospora crassa and Pneumocystis carinii (an AIDS-related pathogen) are described here (articles in this issue: Kelkar et al., Smulian et al., Aign et al., Bhandarkar et al. Hall et al., Dunlap et al., Bean et al.). Genomic comparisons of distant relatives like the basal ascomycete P. carinii with the terminal ascomycete N. crassa will help elucidate what it is to be a fungus (in this issue: Momany et al., Smulian et al.). Comparison of closer relatives will provide unusual insights in on the role of chromosome rearrangements in speciation [Hoyer et al. 2001, Genetics 157(4)].

Fungal genomics is now a data-driven science that allows not only the complete genetic blueprints to be determined and compared but also most RNA and protein levels to be captured in the cell (i.e., RNA and protein profiles) as well. The challenge of genomics is to integrate all of the information in models about DNA, RNA, and proteins to summarize and predict complex traits like development, sex, biological clocks, and pathogenicity. Tools for integrating genomics information are reported (in this issue: Hall et al., Prade et al.). The promise of genomics is using the genetic blueprint and the RNA and protein profiles to understand complex traits. Several genomic approaches are described here to examine fungal pathogenicity, development, sex, and the biological clock (in this issue: Nelson et al., van der Lee et al., Prade et al., Borneman et al., Zhu et al.). It is hoped that the experimental tractability of fungal systems will lead to a new hypothesis-driven genomics.

I am deeply appreciative to the reviewers, editorial staff of GENETICS (particularly Leah Kauffman), Rose Luther, and Linda Lee who have made this special issue possible. This special issue was made possible by the generous support of the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and Burroughs-Wellcome Fund.

Jonathan Arnolda
a University of Georgia




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