Ontogeny and phylogeny of gasteroid members of Agaricaceae (Basidiomycetes)

The focus of this work are the gasteromycetation events of fungi related to the Basidiomycete family of Agaricaceae. These fungi occur in a diversity of shapes, and yet are all adapted to angio- or cleistocarpic, passive spore dispersal. Traditionally, they were treated within Lycoperdaceae and Tulostomataceae, or in various secotioid genera of uncertain assignment. By molecular phylogeny, ten independent events of gasteromycetation are revealed within Agaricaceae s. l., and relationships to hymenothecial taxa are shown. Five major clades are revealed, which are referred to as Tulostomataceae, Coprinaceae, Lepiotaceae, Lycoperdaceae and Agaricaceae s. str. For Langermannia gigantea, the new flabelloid type of hymenial development is shown, with considerable differences to other Lycoperdaceae. Ontogeny of Lycoperdaceae generally deviates from the results of previous analyses. New data on distribution of gasteroid fungi is gained by fungus-floristic analyses of the secotioid fungi of Mongolia, and the gasteroid fungi of Panama. Two new records for Mongolia, and ten new findings for Panama are given. In a review of the morphological features of gasteroid Agaricaceae s. l. under consideration of ecological background and phylogenetic relationships, gasteromycetation is explained as evolutionary process where the presence of comparable ecological constraints led to analogous anatomical changes, often concealing phylogenetic heritage. The evolutionary age can not fully explain the morphological differences between gasteroid groups. Paedomorphosis, understood as disturbance of the succession of developmental regulation, is assumed as triggering process of gasteromycetation. The primary dispersal strategy of gasteroid Agaricaceae is euanemochory, which is established mainly in steppe and desert habitats. From there, colonisation of other biomes followed under evolution of appropriate anatomical features

A stable backbone for the fungi

Fungi are abundant in the biosphere. They have fascinated mankind as far as written history goes and have considerably influenced our culture. In biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, and life sciences in general fungi constitute relevant model organisms. Once the phylogenetic relationships of fungi are stably resolved individual results from fungal research can be combined into a holistic picture of biology. However, and despite recent progress, the backbone of the fungal phylogeny is not yet fully resolved. Especially the early evolutionary history of fungi and the order or below-order relationships within the ascomycetes remain uncertain. Here we present the first phylogenomic study for a eukaryotic kingdom that merges all publicly available fungal genomes and expressed sequence tags (EST) to build a data set comprising 128 genes and 146 taxa. The resulting tree provides a stable phylogenetic backbone for the fungi. Moreover, we present the first formal supertree based on 161 fungal taxa and 128 gene trees. The combined evidences from the trees support the deep-level stability of the fungal groups towards a comprehensive natural system of the fungi. They indicate that the classification of the fungi, especially their alliance with the Microsporidia, requires careful revision. Our analysis is also an inventory of present day sequence information for the fungi. It provides insights into which phylogenenetic conclusions can and which cannot be drawn from the current data and may serve as a guide to direct further sequencing initiatives. Together with a comprehensive animal phylogeny, we provide the second of three pillars to understand the evolution of the multicellular eukaryotic kingdoms, fungi, metazoa, and plants, in the past 1.6 billion years

Chaenothecopsis schefflerae (Ascomycota: Mycocaliciales): a widespread fungus on semi-hardened exudates of endemic New Zealand Araliaceae

Ascomycetes specialised to live on hardened plant exudates occur worldwide, but the number of species so far described is relatively small (c.30). Particularly within the genus Chaenothecopsis (Ascomycota:Mycocaliciales), many species produce their ascomata on hardened but still relatively fresh outpourings of conifer resin or angiosperm exudate. Temperate rainforests of New Zealand provide habitat for several endemic Chaenothecopsis species, including Chaenothecopsis schefflerae, which was previously known from a single sample collected from the exudate of Schefflera digitata (Araliaceae) in the early 1980s. Here we show that C.schefflerae is neither lost nor very rare, but occurs sporadically throughout New Zealand. The fungus does not primarily grow on Schefflera but on exudate of several species of Pseudopanax (Araliaceae),also endemic to the region. We compare the morphology of the new specimens to the type specimen of C. schefflerae and provide a detailed description of the new material. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS and LSU rDNA place C.schefflerae together with other morphologically similar Chaenothecopsis species growing on angiosperm exudates.Peer reviewe

A Consistent Phylogenetic Backbone for the Fungi

The kingdom of fungi provides model organisms for biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, and life sciences in general. Only when their phylogenetic relationships are stably resolved, can individual results from fungal research be integrated into a holistic picture of biology. However, and despite recent progress, many deep relationships within the fungi remain unclear. Here, we present the first phylogenomic study of an entire eukaryotic kingdom that uses a consistency criterion to strengthen phylogenetic conclusions. We reason that branches (splits) recovered with independent data and different tree reconstruction methods are likely to reflect true evolutionary relationships. Two complementary phylogenomic data sets based on 99 fungal genomes and 109 fungal expressed sequence tag (EST) sets analyzed with four different tree reconstruction methods shed light from different angles on the fungal tree of life. Eleven additional data sets address specifically the phylogenetic position of Blastocladiomycota, Ustilaginomycotina, and Dothideomycetes, respectively. The combined evidence from the resulting trees supports the deep-level stability of the fungal groups toward a comprehensive natural system of the fungi. In addition, our analysis reveals methodologically interesting aspects. Enrichment for EST encoded data—a common practice in phylogenomic analyses—introduces a strong bias toward slowly evolving and functionally correlated genes. Consequently, the generalization of phylogenomic data sets as collections of randomly selected genes cannot be taken for granted. A thorough characterization of the data to assess possible influences on the tree reconstruction should therefore become a standard in phylogenomic analyses

Estimating the Phanerozoic history of the Ascomycota lineages : Combining fossil and molecular data

Peer reviewe

Bovista pezica (Basidiomycota, agaricales): A new species with unusually ornamented capillitium, from patagonia, Argentina

Collections of the genus Bovista in southern South America have been traditionally identified under northern-hemisphere names. Although many puffball species show a wide distribu-tion, the identity and distribution of Patagonian species still need to be revisited. Recent materials collected in Patagonia and displaying a unique capillitium ornamented with oblique membranes are shown here to correspond to a new species, Bovista pezica, from the Nothofagaceae forests. An unusually thick and coriaceous endoperidium also supports the separation of these specimens veri-fied by our molecular analyses. We present here a full description of B. pezica sp. nov. along with a key for the species recorded in Patagonia, and we discuss the possible distributional range.Fil: Hernández Caffot, María Luciana. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; ArgentinaFil: Kuhar, José Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Gube, Matthias. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Crespo, Esteban María. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Laboratorio de Microscopia Electrónica y Microanálisis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Domínguez, Laura Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Hydrophobins in the Life Cycle of the Ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete <i>Tricholoma vaccinum</i>

<div><p>Hydrophobins—secreted small cysteine-rich, amphipathic proteins—foster interactions of fungal hyphae with hydrophobic surfaces, and are involved in the formation of aerial hyphae. Phylogenetic analyses of <i>Tricholoma vaccinum</i> hydrophobins showed a grouping with hydrophobins of other ectomycorrhizal fungi, which might be a result of co-evolution. Further analyses indicate angiosperms as likely host trees for the last common ancestor of the genus <i>Tricholoma</i>. The nine hydrophobin genes in the <i>T</i>. <i>vaccinum</i> genome were investigated to infer their individual roles in different stages of the life cycle, host interaction, asexual and sexual development, and with respect to different stresses. In aerial mycelium, <i>hyd8</i> was up-regulated. <i>In silico</i> analysis predicted three packing arrangements, i.e., ring-like, plus-like and sheet-like structure for Hyd8; the first two may assemble to rodlets of hydrophobin covering aerial hyphae, whereas the third is expected to be involved in forming a two-dimensional network of hydrophobins. Metal stress induced hydrophobin gene <i>hyd5</i>. In early steps of mycorrhization, induction of <i>hyd4</i> and <i>hyd5</i> by plant root exudates and root volatiles could be shown, followed by <i>hyd5</i> up-regulation during formation of mantle, Hartig’ net, and rhizomorphs with concomitant repression of <i>hyd8</i> and <i>hyd9</i>. During fruiting body formation, mainly <i>hyd3</i>, but also <i>hyd8</i> were induced. Host preference between the compatible host <i>Picea abies</i> and the low compatibility host <i>Pinus sylvestris</i> could be linked to a stronger induction of <i>hyd4</i> and <i>hyd5</i> by the preferred host and a stronger repression of <i>hyd8</i>, whereas the repression of <i>hyd9</i> was comparable between the two hosts.</p></div

Fold changes of relative expression of hydrophobin transcripts.

<p>(A) Mycelium grown on soil (substrate mycelium), immersed and floating mycelium compared to solid medium. (B) Liquid culture treated with root exudates of <i>P</i>. <i>abies</i> or <i>P</i>. <i>sylvestris</i>, and (C) with ethanol (EtOH) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) both compared with non-treated liquid culture. (D) Response to volatiles from mycelia grown on solid medium, next to roots of <i>P</i>. <i>abies</i> or <i>P</i>. <i>sylvestris</i>, and (E) in ectomycorrhiza with <i>P</i>. <i>abies</i> or <i>P</i>. <i>sylvestris</i> both compared to a control on solid medium. (F) Fruiting bodies compared to artificial medium and soil. Bars denote standard error, significance level * <i>P</i> < 0.05, ** <i>P</i> < 0.005, *** <i>P</i> < 0.005.</p

Identification of feldin, an antifungal polyyne from the beefsteak fungus fistulina hepatica

Fruiting body-forming members of the Basidiomycota maintain their ecological fitness against various antagonists like ascomycetous mycoparasites. To achieve that, they produce myriads of bioactive compounds, some of which are now being used as agrochemicals or pharmaceutical lead structures. Here, we screened ethyl acetate crude extracts from cultures of thirty-five mushroom species for antifungal bioactivity, for their effect on the ascomycete Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis. One extract that inhibited the growth of S. cerevisiae much stronger than that of U. maydis was further analyzed. For bioactive compound identification, we performed bioactivity-guided HPLC/MS fractionation. Fractions showing inhibition against S. cerevisiae but reduced activity against U. maydis were further analyzed. NMR-based structure elucidation from one such fraction revealed the polyyne we named feldin, which displays prominent antifungal bioactivity. Future studies with additional mushroom-derived eukaryotic toxic compounds or antifungals will show whether U. maydis could be used as a suitable host to shortcut an otherwise laborious production of such mushroom compounds, as could recently be shown for heterologous sesquiterpene production in U. maydis