Novel, sustainable approaches for controlling fungal pathogens

This project will investigate natural anti-fungal inhibitors and assess synergistic/antagonistic interactions with other agents, extending to mode-of-action characterization and the impact of environment or media-type on interactions. This will include tests to find agents to which drug resistant fungal isolates may be hypersensitive, e.g., 'collateral sensitivity' in azole-resistant strains of C. albicans. In addition, the project will investigate fungal anti-attachment polymers as a novel, passive means for controlling problematic fungi, potentially encompassing both human- and crop-pathogens. Experiments will use experimental evolution experiments and/or selection after UV mutagenesis in S. cerevisiae, followed by genetic analysis (bulk segregant analysis) or NGS, to reveal mechanisms of anti-attachment and resistance.