Experimental evolution as an untapped resource to explore fungal adaptation.

Over the past 5 years, we have set up several series of in-vitro evolution experiments (1) to predict putative resistance mechanisms to specific novel synthetic or natural antifungals (fenpicoxamid: Fouché et al, 2021; metyltetraprole: Mosser et al, 2023; 4-PBA: C. Ugazio short-term contract and A. Le Ruyet staring PhD), (2) to produce mutants with original and unknown resistance mechanisms to be disentangled (on-going PhD of E. Neau) and (3) to investigate the dynamics of resistance evolution, the determinants of durability and efficiency of fungicide treatment strategies in general (Ballu et al, 2021, 2023, 2024; Fouché, PhD thesis). The latter work earned its author, Agathe Ballu, a silver medal from the French Academy of Agriculture. All these studies have provided evidence that experimental evolution is an extremely valuable tool to predict evolutionary outcomes for fungicide resistance in phytopathogenic fungi, complementary to the empirical and modelling approaches already at work in the team.

References:
Ballu, A. Deredec, A-S. Walker, F. Carpentier. Are efficient-dose mixtures a solution to reduce fungicide load and delay evolution of resistance? An experimental evolutionary approach. 2021. Microorganisms, 9 (11), pp.2324, ⟨10.3390/microorganisms9112324⟩.
Ballu, P. Despréaux, C. Duplaix, A. Dérédec,  F. Carpentier, A-S Walker. Antifungal alternation can be beneficial for durability but at the cost of generalist resistance. 2023. Communications Biology, 6 (1), pp.180, ⟨10.1038/S42003-023-04550-6⟩.
Ballu, C. Ugazio, C. Duplaix, A. Noly, J. Wullschleger, S. Torriani, A. Deredec, F. Carpentier^*, A-S. Walker^*. Preventing multiple resistance above all: new insights for managing fungal adaptation. 2023. BioRxiv, ⟨10.1101/2022.12.17.520869⟩.
G. Fouché, T. Michel, A. Lalève, N. Wang, D. Young, B. Meunier, D. Debieu, S. Fillinger, A‐S. Walker. Directed evolution predicts cytochrome b G37V target site modification as probable adaptive mechanism towards the QiI fungicide fenpicoxamid in Zymoseptoria tritici. 2021. Environmental Microbiology, 24 (03), pp.1117-1132, ⟨10.1111/1462-2920.15760⟩