Intent of Investigation
Treatment of fungal infections in humans and plants is complicated by the shared eukaryotic nature of the pathogen and host. Therefore, ideal drug targets are biochemical processes unique to fungi. One such process is known as conidiation, which is the development of asexual fungal spores, or conidia. Conidiation is not only critical for host-to-host spreading, but it is also heavily involved in overall growth and spreading within a host. Reducing the number of conidia produced by an infectious fungus could prevent the spread of infection between hosts and potentially even eliminate the pathogen, in conjunction with an immune defense, within a single host. QTL analysis on Neurospora crassa has determined several candidate genes that, when mutated, significantly affect the number of conidia produced. N. crassa is nonpathogenic, but it is a widely used model organism with a mapped genome. Using molecular tools, N. crassa can be used to model the influence that allelic variation has on the quantitative aspect of conidiation. Success in this investigation could provide new molecular targets for reducing conidia in fungal pathogens.

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