Entomopathogenic fungus on ant. Transcriptome or Gene expression

The fungus Pandora formicae (Entomophthoromycota) is an obligatory, biotrophic pathogen of wood ants. Ants get infected through fungal spores attaching to and penetrating the exoskeleton. Fungus then develops inside the hemocoel. After exploiting nutritional resources, the fungus induces a change in host behavior, manipulating the ant to climb up vegetation and die in an elevated position. This promotes effective disease transmission through actively discharged spores, produced by fungal conidiophores growing on the fixed cadaver. The goal of this project is to study genes expressed by a specialist entomopathogenic fungus during interaction with host, to gain insight about molecular mechanisms involved.