Global consortium for the classification of fungi and fungus-like taxa

The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-career and early-career mycologists and plant pathologists. The Consortium will publish a biannual update of the Outline of Fungi and fungus like taxa, to act as an international scheme for other scientists. Notes on all newly published taxa at or above the level of species will be prepared and published online on the Outline of Fungi website (https://www.outlineoffungi.org/), and these will be finally published in the biannual edition of the Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. Comments on recent important taxonomic opinions on controversial topics will be included in the biannual outline. For example, ‘to promote a more stable taxonomy in Fusarium given the divergences over its generic delimitation’, or ‘are there too many genera in the Boletales?’ and even more importantly, ‘what should be done with the tremendously diverse ‘dark fungal taxa?’ There are undeniable differences in mycologists’ perceptions and opinions regarding species classification as well as the establishment of new species. Given the pluralistic nature of fungal taxonomy and its implications for species concepts and the nature of species, this consortium aims to provide a platform to better refine and stabilise fungal classification, taking into consideration views from different parties. In the future, a confidential voting system will be set up to gauge the opinions of all mycologists in the Consortium on important topics. The results of such surveys will be presented to the International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF) and the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF) with opinions and percentages of votes for and against. Criticisms based on scientific evidence with regards to nomenclature, classifications, and taxonomic concepts will be welcomed, and any recommendations on specific taxonomic issues will also be encouraged; however, we will encourage professionally and ethically responsible criticisms of others’ work. This biannual ongoing project will provide an outlet for advances in various topics of fungal classification, nomenclature, and taxonomic concepts and lead to a community-agreed classification scheme for the fungi and fungus-like taxa. Interested parties should contact the lead author if they would like to be involved in future outlines

Ribosomal RNA of metchnikovellids in gregarine transcriptomes and rDNA of microsporidia <i>Sensu Lato</i> in Metagenomes

Numerous nucleotide sequences of microsporidia sensu lato, mainly belonging to the “Cryptomycota” (Rozellida, Rozellomycota, Rozellosporidia, treated here as synonyms), are found in metagenomes, transcriptomes, and amplicon libraries used for metabarcoding. In this study, we describe rDNA sequences of hyperparasitic metchnikovellid microsporidia found in the transcriptomes of unicellular protists belonging to Apicomplexa (Alveolata). The transcriptome of the eugregarine Polyrhabdina sp. (GenBank SRX6640468) contains the cDNA of Metchnikovella incurvata, the transcriptome of the archigregarine Selenidium pygospionis (GenBank SRX6640459) contains the cDNA of Metchnikovella dogieli, and in the transcriptome of the blastogregarine Siedleckia cf. nematoides (GenBank SRX6640464) we find cDNAs originating from a yet undescribed species representing a novel metchnikovellid family. We have modeled the secondary structure of the “ITS2” region of identified and unidentified metchnikovellids taking into account the covariant nucleotide substitutions. Based on the predicted secondary structure of rRNA, mapping of reads from cDNA libraries, and the absence of the endoribonuclease Las1 (PF04031), we conclude that there is no ITS2 processing in metchnikovellids, and the mature “5.8S”- and “28S”-like (LSU) rRNA are covalently fused, similarly to the LSU rRNA in the other microsporidia sensu stricto. We discuss several previously proposed (Chytridiopsis typographi, BAQA065) and new candidates for the sister group of microsporidia sensu stricto, and compare the reduced rRNA genes of microsporidia and the lengthened rRNA genes with group I introns of parasitic and lichen fungi in the context of neutral and adaptive evolutionary processes