Fruiting under pressure—the 33rd meeting of the Fungal Genetics Conference

The 33rd Fungal Genetics Conference was held from March 17th to the 22nd at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California. The conference has been held at Asilomar 24 times since it began as the “Neurospora Information Conference” in 1961. Over meals at the large round tables, it is common for attendees to compare their conference history with some participants having attendance records stretching back to the last century. This year, however, the attendees set a different kind of record. In 2026, 381 of the badges were adorned with the blue “FIRST TIME ATTENDEE” ribbon. These new attendees comprised nearly 48% of all the conference-goers in 2026. The shift in the landscape of conference-goers is partly due to stressors preventing the attendance of some of the regulars, including changes to the funding landscape and international travel concerns. Despite growing adversities in research administration, the Fungal Genetics Conference continues to serve as a facilitator of excellent science and community. In his introduction to the new Fungal Spore Lecture, Dr. Robert A Cramer (Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, NH) shared that attending the Fungal Genetics Conference as a graduate student inspired him to stay in the field of fungal genetics. The conference's impact continues today. First-time attendee, Bhuwan Abbot (UNC Charlotte, NC), said: “For me, this conference was transformational and I left with a stronger identity as a scientist and meaningful relationships that will last beyond this meeting.” In times of uncertainty, the conference is a biannual opportunity to forge new collaborations, invigorate our scientific minds, and dance to the Amplified DNA Band until the lights are turned on. First-time attendees who made a big impression include Dr. I. Jason Tsai (Academia Sinica, Taiwan), who shared a captivating story about an acidophilic fungus that promotes prey digestion in a carnivorous plant. This plenary talk included important lessons about the benefits of posting your work on preprint servers and Darwin's fascination with carnivorous plants. As a newcomer to the conference, but not to the field, Dr. Tsai said that “it was quite special to finally meet and interact with so many people who had already been part of my scientific life in one way or another.” Of the 22 GSA poster winners, 13 were first-time attendees. This includes Boel Olsson (Stockholm University, Sweden), who presented a fantastic poster on the use of metagenomics to precisely measure the directional growth of the fairy ring fungus Marasmius oreades. Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Leslie Torres Ulloa (Harvard University, MA) was also new to Fungal Genetics and presented both a talk and a poster on the role of the circadian clock in the behavior-manipulating fungus Entomophthora muscae. Dr. Torres Ulloa said, “the experience of sharing my work with the community and receiving such earnest and constructive feedback was a huge highlight for me and left me feeling super motivated to get back to lab and try new things.” The conference concluded with laughs and tears during Dr. Nancy Keller's (UW-Madison, WI) Perkins/Metzenberg Lecture. She reminded us of all that the fungal genetics community is strengthened by our global connections: “I think one of the best things about our profession is [that] we get to interact and meet with people all around the world.” Dr. Keller has shared more about her journey in a recent Perspective in Genetics (Keller 2026). Over the coming months, Genetics and G3 will feature exciting new articles from Fungal Genetics attendees. Several articles have already hit the press. The lab of Jay Dunlap (Dartmouth, NH) published on the role of nuclear import in the Neurospora circadian clock (Wang et al. 2026). Work from the lab of Gustavo Goldman (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) described the microbiome of aspergillomas formed during Aspergillus fumigatus infection (Ribeiro et al. 2026). The lab of Scott Moye-Rowley (University of Iowa, IA) identified a new role for the gene YPK2 in multidrug susceptibility in a yeast pathogen (Simonicova et al. 2026). Look for the keyword Fungal2026 in upcoming publications to read more. Here, we have highlighted some of the most thought-provoking topics presented by both first-timers and seasoned Fungal Genetics attendees. Over the past few decades, participating in scientific research has become increasingly accessible to the public through citizen science initiatives. In fungal biology, engaging with citizen science can help to reduce sampling bias, expand datasets, and support scientific literacy. Throughout the conference, several talks discussed how the integration of citizen science can positively contribute to the fungal genetics community. In her plenary lecture, Dr. Eveline Snelders (Wageningen University, Netherlands) discussed her successful citizen science-based program that assessed antifungal resistance in the ubiquitous environmental fungus and opportunistic human pathogen, A. fumigatus. Through the distribution of a cost-effective air-sampling device, she captured air samples from across the Netherlands. Analysis of the resulting dataset revealed that Dr. Snelders’ group can predict antifungal resistance in airborne fungi based on the local land usage and identify resistant strains that are spreading in the air before being identified in the clinic. In addition to classic examples of citizen science, some talks discussed relationships with the private sector to solve real-world problems while expanding our fundamental knowledge of fungal biology. In his plenary presentation, Dr. Benjamin Wolfe (Tufts University, MA) discussed 2 different cheesemakers in the USA and France, both with unknown issues impacting their production. Through microbiology- and genetics-based approaches, Dr. Wolfe's group studied these “Frankencheeses” to identify environmental factors, such as temperature, that alter the microbial communities in cheese rinds and reduce the overall production quality of cheese. As the fungal genetics field continues to develop pangenome resources and ask questions about the distribution of species, pathogens, and antifungal resistance, citizen science represents an under-utilized strategy to rapidly and inexpensively expand data collection. Several new advances in fungal technology were highlighted at the conference. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based advances remained at the forefront in many fields. For example, graduate student Angus Bucknell (The Sainsbury Laboratory, UK) used AI to predict effector function. Graduate student Christina Chavez (Vanderbilt University, TN) and Dr. Orlando Arguello-Miranda (NC State University, NC) used AI to better understand morphology changes in fungi. Dr. Abbe LaBella (UNC Charlotte, NC) utilized AI to examine codon usage, Dr. Brooke Allen (USDA-ARS) used a machine learning pipeline to associate predicted orthologs and other functional traits with lifestyles and hosts in fungi, and Dr. Marie-Claire Harrison (Stanford University, CA) used AI to identify k-mers significantly associated with drug resistance in fungi. While new algorithms have gained much attention, workflows related to more traditional technologies such as proteomics and metabolomics have also remained relevant. Dr. Arite Bigalke (Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Germany) utilized a new analytic pipeline to identify drug-specific proteomic responses and biosynthetic gene clusters in A. fumigatus. Graduate student Matthew Wengler (the Sainsbury Lab, UK) used phosphoproteomic analysis to help elucidate the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathway in rice blast fungus. Dr. Milton Drott (USDA-ARS) used transcriptomic analyses to see the mechanisms underlying secondary metabolic differences in Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus oryzae. As fungi (and especially non-model fungi) remain a unique and difficult system for typical genetic approaches, advances have been made in experimental technologies. This includes a new synthetic biology approach to express genes in oyster mushrooms that Dr. Panward Prasongpholchai (University of Warwick, UK) presented. Rebecca Shapiro's lab (University of Guelph, Canada) used a CRISPR-activation library to identify genes whose expression is related to drug resistance, and Dr. Katrina Jackson (Northern Arizona University, AZ) developed a high-throughput method for CRISPR-mediated gene deletion in Coccidioides posadasii. The development of new technologies within fungal biology continues to bring about fascinating new advances and discoveries in several different fields. The rapidly expanding field of fungal Starships was a major theme this year. In just 5 yr since the discovery of Starships, this field has expanded to understand the mechanisms of how fungal-to-fungal horizontal gene transfer takes place. Dr. Emile Gluck-Thaler (UW-Madison, WI) showcased Starships as crucial genomic components that are essential drivers of fungal evolution. Experimental breakthroughs were presented by Dr. Andrew S. Urquhart's lab (University of Melbourne, Australia), which demonstrated active Starship-mediated gene transfer between the phylogenetically distant species Paecilomyces variotii and A. fumigatus. Moreover, the recipients acquiring these Starships carrying metal resistance genes also gained corresponding phenotypes, providing direct evidence of adaptive horizontal gene transfer. Dr. Aaron Vogan (Uppsala University, Sweden) presented a high-throughput system that allows crossing of a Starship donor strain of A. fumigatus with any wild-type strain while testing environmental stressors that promote transfer. The topic of Starships in fungi was quite popular, with researchers across multiple sessions reporting Starship discoveries spanning from epigenetic regulation to host specialization. Another intriguing topic was the work on “fire-loving” or pyrophilous fungi. Dr. Monika Fischer (University of British Columbia, Canada) demonstrated that these specialist fungi can metabolize charcoal as their sole carbon source using C13-labeled charcoal tracer studies. Transcriptomics work on Pyronema domesticum revealed a charcoal metabolism pathway featuring uncharacterized cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, highlighting the possible competition within post-fire fungal communities. The plenary by Dr. Sydney Glassman (UC Riverside, CA) showed us the evolutionary trade-offs that enable pyrophilic fungi to thrive post-fire. An analysis of 20 fire-adapted species from 7 California wildfires revealed strategies like rapid growth and nutrient acquisition, along with extensive bacterial-to-fungal horizontal gene transfer as a key strategy for acquiring novel aromatic carbon-degrading capabilities. This year, the talks went beyond the traditional Dikarya-based model systems, as researchers showcased their findings from their work on the Dark Matter Fungi (DMF). The understudied non-Dikarya lineages are the phyla of fungi that generally lack the dikaryotic life stage. Dr. Lillian Fritz-Laylin (UMass Amherst, MA) shared work on chytrid cellular biology, showing how Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis chytrid zoospores use actin-based crawling mechanisms that are remarkably similar to animal cell migration. Dr. Joeseph Spatafora and postdoctoral trainee Lluvia Vargas's (Oregon State University, OR) work on the genomic architecture of Basidiobolus, revealed a shattered genome within this genus with hundreds of chromosomes with varying sizes from 58–143Mb, along with extensive horizontal gene transfer of secondary metabolite gene clusters from bacteria, complex ploidy patterns, and over 50% repetitive content, revealing new concepts of fungal genome organization. Among the talks on human fungal pathogens, 1 theme returned with unusual force: antifungal failure is no longer being read solely through the familiar lens of canonical, mutation-based resistance and increased minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Instead, several speakers pointed to a broader landscape of altered drug susceptibility, in which resistance, tolerance, persistence, hetero-resistance, para-resistance, epigenetic resistance, and other yet-to-be-defined forms of altered susceptibility drive treatment failure. Dr. Lucy Xie (Stanford University, CA) presented one of the most striking examples, describing a heritable but reversible, non-genetic fluconazole-adaptive state in Candida albicans termed para-resistance associated with stress-activated MAPK Hog1. In parallel, Dr. Hans Carolus (Université Laval, Canada) showed how modulation of the same pathway can underlie acquired echinocandin tolerance in Candidozyma auris. The HOG pathway resurfaced again in Dr. Teresa O’Meara's (University of Michigan Medical School, MI) talk on bacterial–fungal interactions in C. albicans. In Cryptococcus neoformans, graduate student Priscilla Atim (Virginia Tech University, VA) presented a novel tool for quantifying tolerance and hetero-resistance, while graduate student Yuyan Xie (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) used a novel tool to quantify persistence, showing that persistent variants can arise rapidly during cryptococcal infection even in the absence of overt resistance. Chromosomal instability was another highly prominent storyline at this year's meeting. Dr. Rebecca Shapiro (University of Guelph, Canada) showcased a CRISPR activation-based strategy to dissect how aneuploidies mechanistically drive antifungal resistance and tolerance in C. albicans. Graduate student Anna E. Lehmann extended that logic to A. fumigatus, showing that whole-chromosome and segmental aneuploidies can arise under FK506 or azole pressure and contribute to unstable adaptive states. This rethinking of fungal drug adaptation resurfaced again in Dr. Yeeun Son's (Duke University Medical Center, NC) demonstration that transient FK506 resistance in Mucorales can be mediated by epimutations driven through RNAi- and heterochromatin-based mechanisms. Together, these talks made it clear that we have to shift the paradigm of dominant mutation-based fungal drug adaptation to a concept where mutations co-exist with physiological, epigenetic, reversible, and structurally encoded changes. A second standout theme was the strong One Health framing of antifungal resistance and fungal emergence, especially in A. fumigatus. Graduate students Bo Briggeman and Spyridon Kanellopoulos from the Snelders lab at Wageningen University (Netherlands) showed that cross-resistance is shaped within concrete environmental niches. Briggeman zoomed in on organic waste piles as local evolutionary arenas, where even a single pile can contain a striking fraction of the diversity previously observed across global isolate collections. Kanellopoulos extended the picture beyond azoles, showing that environmental isolates may accumulate cross-resistance across multiple fungicide classes, suggesting that continued use of non-triazole compounds may also contribute indirectly to clinically relevant triazole resistance. Dr. Matthew Fisher's (Imperial College London, UK) captivating Fungal Spore Lecture—the first of its kind—again placed fungal disease squarely at the One Health interface, where environmental change, surveillance, and emerging infection can no longer be treated as separate problems. Importantly, this ecological perspective was not confined to Aspergillus. Dr. Bridget Barker (Northern Arizona University, AZ) gave a particularly memorable account of Coccidioides, emphasizing vertebrate hosts and burrow-associated desert microenvironments, and advancing the endozoan hypothesis in which mammalian hosts are not merely accidental victims but part of the organism's natural life history. Dr. Lisa Couper (UC Berkeley, CA) complemented that view by directly contrasting environmental and clinical isolates of Coccidioides, asking whether all soil strains pose the same risk to human hosts. Together, these talks gave the One Health concept unusual sharpness, linking the ecology of agriculture, waste management, and animal reservoirs to clinical burdens in a single evolutionary narrative. Finally, Sourabh Dhingra (Clemson, SC) presented the role of a long noncoding RNA in regulating A. fumigatus response to azole drugs (Poudyal et al. 2026). Several talks throughout the meeting examined how nutrient sensing facilitates fungal adaptation to diverse environments by supporting proliferation and influencing mechanisms that drive virulence. Many talks also showcased the impact of genome editing tools on the study of these adaptations. Dr. Rosana Alves (Universidade do Minho, Portugal) presented work that perfectly encapsulates this trend: systematic deletion of short-chain fatty acid transporters in C. albicans demonstrated their role in facilitating mammalian host gut colonization and positioned these nutrient sensors as promising antifungal drug targets. The meeting further highlighted the relevance of basic nutrient-sensing mechanisms to the development of new agricultural and biocontrol applications, particularly those that leverage interactions between fungi and plants. Dr. Rafael Palos Fernandez (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany) presented on nematode-trapping fungi as potential replacements for commercial nematocides in agricultural settings, establishing copper homeostasis in these fungi as a potential link between enhanced plant root colonization and trap development. In a complementary vein, graduate student Jacy Newfeld (The University of Tokyo, Japan) described an intriguing connection between temperature and the induction of plant-beneficial life states in endophytic fungi, underscoring their potential application in sustainable agricultural practice. Consequences of environmental change and stressors were a major theme of ecological talks, especially within the of changes. of the the impact of soil on fungal and associated microbiome was described by Dr. (University of Graduate student State University, presented work fungal community changes in response to as species over graduate student (Vanderbilt University, TN) used machine learning to that with may be diversity for Aspergillus and that will significantly impact natural across the In to understand the of change on and the fungi within we identify of fungal species and communities. 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