Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded the University of Texas at Austin a Project Grant of $415,574 under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to conduct fundamental research on immune recognition and response mechanisms in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals. The research, which commenced July 13, 2026 and extends through March 31, 2031, will establish choanoflagellates as experimental models for investigating host-pathogen interactions and innate immune response. The funded work combines comparative evolutionary and genetic approaches to define how choanoflagellates recognize and respond to bacterial pathogens, elucidate signaling pathways involved in immune responses to Pseudomonas bacteria, and study immune response mechanisms using naturally occurring choanoflagellate-pathogen infection models.

This research directly contributes to advancing fundamental understanding of animal immunity by leveraging choanoflagellates' unique phylogenetic position as sister organisms to all animals. By identifying core immune mechanisms and ancestral features in organisms positioned at the evolutionary origin of animal immunity, the project delivers scientific insights that extend beyond traditional mammalian and insect model systems and illuminate how immune innovations emerged and evolved across the animal kingdom. These findings will inform a broader understanding of conserved immune genes and mechanisms applicable across diverse animal host contexts.