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| Open Access
Origin of fungal hybrids with pathogenic potential from warm seawater environments
Most clinical isolates of the pathogenic yeast Candida orthopsilosis are hybrids of two parental lineages, only one of which has been identified. Here, del Olmo et al. show that C. orthopsilosis strains isolated from warm seawater are hybrids closely related to clinical isolates, and identify the missing parental lineage, thus providing a more complete view of the genomic evolution of this species.
- Valentina del Olmo
- , Verónica Mixão
- & Toni Gabaldón
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| Open Access
Surface frustration re-patterning underlies the structural landscape and evolvability of fungal orphan candidate effectors
Pathogens secrete effectors that evade host immunity and promote disease. The authors identify effectors conserved across fungi in which low structure divergence associates with surface energetics variation, conferring robustness and evolvability.
- Mark C. Derbyshire
- & Sylvain Raffaele
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| Open Access
Global genomic analyses of wheat powdery mildew reveal association of pathogen spread with historical human migration and trade
The fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici causes wheat powdery mildew disease. Here, Sotiropoulos et al. analyze a global sample of 172 mildew genomes, providing evidence that humans drove global spread of the pathogen throughout history and that mildew rapidly evolved through hybridization with local fungal strains.
- Alexandros G. Sotiropoulos
- , Epifanía Arango-Isaza
- & Thomas Wicker
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| Open Access
Large differences in carbohydrate degradation and transport potential among lichen fungal symbionts
Lichen symbioses are thought to be stabilized by the transfer of fixed carbon from a photosynthesizing symbiont to a fungus. Here, Resl et al. show that, contrary to other fungal symbioses, fungal association with a phototroph in lichens does not result in loss of fungal enzymes for plant cell-wall degradation.
- Philipp Resl
- , Adina R. Bujold
- & Toby Spribille
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| Open Access
Cryptic terrestrial fungus-like fossils of the early Ediacaran Period
Fungi may have evolved up to 2.4 billion years ago, but it is unclear when they first colonized land. Here Gan and colleagues report filamentous Ediacaran microfossils from South China that may represent early terrestrial fungi.
- Tian Gan
- , Taiyi Luo
- & Shuhai Xiao
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Article
| Open Access
5-fluorocytosine resistance is associated with hypermutation and alterations in capsule biosynthesis in Cryptococcus
The authors show that resistance to the antifungal 5-fluorocytosine in Cryptococcus deuterogattii is acquired more frequently in isolates with elevated mutation rate, and is associated with alterations in capsule biosynthesis and nucleotide metabolism.
- R. Blake Billmyre
- , Shelly Applen Clancey
- & Joseph Heitman
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| Open Access
Comparative genomics reveals the origin of fungal hyphae and multicellularity
Hyphae are a major innovation in fungi associated with transitions to multicellularity. Here, Kiss and colleagues use comparative genomic analyses to reconstruct the evolutionary origins of hyphae and the molecular evolution of hypha morphogenesis genes.
- Enikő Kiss
- , Botond Hegedüs
- & László G. Nagy
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Article
| Open Access
European mushroom assemblages are darker in cold climates
The functions of color in fungi are not well characterized. Here, Krah and colleagues investigate the color of mushroom assemblages across Europe and show relationships with climate, nutritional mode (saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal) and seasonality.
- Franz-Sebastian Krah
- , Ulf Büntgen
- & Claus Bässler
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| Open Access
The origin and adaptive evolution of domesticated populations of yeast from Far East Asia
An understanding of the domestication of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has important implications for studying its evolution and diversity. Here, the authors show that Far East Asia is likely the center of origin of the domesticated populations of the yeast based on genomic and phenotypic characterization of a large collection of isolates.
- Shou-Fu Duan
- , Pei-Jie Han
- & Feng-Yan Bai
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| Open Access
Extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet light in the fungal pathogen causing white-nose syndrome of bats
White-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is decimating North American bats. Here, Palmer et al. use comparative genomics to examine the evolutionary history of this pathogen, and show that it has lost a crucial DNA repair enzyme and is extremely sensitive to UV light.
- Jonathan M. Palmer
- , Kevin P. Drees
- & Daniel L. Lindner
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Article
| Open Access
Bacterial endosymbionts influence host sexuality and reveal reproductive genes of early divergent fungi
Cells of the fungus Rhizopus microsporus contain Burkholderia endobacteria that control its asexual reproduction. Here, the authors show that the endobacteria also mediate mating of the fungal host by modulating expression of a GTPase central to fungal reproductive development.
- Stephen J. Mondo
- , Olga A. Lastovetsky
- & Teresa E. Pawlowska
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Article
| Open Access
Large-scale suppression of recombination predates genomic rearrangements in Neurospora tetrasperma
Genomic rearrangements can be either a cause or a consequence of large-scale suppression of recombination in a genome. Here, Sun et al. show that recombination may be suppressed in collinear genomic regions, and that inversions may accumulate over time in a derived manner.
- Yu Sun
- , Jesper Svedberg
- & Hanna Johannesson
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Article
| Open Access
Mycophagous rove beetles highlight diverse mushrooms in the Cretaceous
Agarics (gilled mushrooms) are rarely preserved as fossils, which has obscured their evolutionary history. Here, the authors describe new forms of agarics as well as new species of rove beetles with morphological specializations for mushroom feeding discovered in 99-million-year-old Burmese amber.
- Chenyang Cai
- , Richard A. B. Leschen
- & Diying Huang
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| Open Access
An integrated genomic and transcriptomic survey of mucormycosis-causing fungi
Fungi of the order Mucorales can cause life-threatening infections. Here, Chibucos et al. present genomic and transcriptomic analyses of a diverse set of Mucorales fungi, shedding light on their evolution and identifying potential therapeutic targets in the pathogens and the host.
- Marcus C. Chibucos
- , Sameh Soliman
- & Vincent M. Bruno
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Latent homology and convergent regulatory evolution underlies the repeated emergence of yeasts
Convergent evolution is common; yet the molecular mechanisms causing similar phenotypes to appear repeatedly are unclear. Here, the authors show that transitions to yeast-like lifestyle happened repeatedly via changes in the regulatory mechanism of the genetic toolkit for yeast growth.
- László G. Nagy
- , Robin A. Ohm
- & David S. Hibbett
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| Open Access
Stochastic signalling rewires the interaction map of a multiple feedback network during yeast evolution
GALgenes enhance their own transcription via the transcription factor Gal4p, and the number of Galp4 sites in a promoter is expected to strengthen the feedback. In this study, Hsuet al. show that instead the feedback loops are activated by genes that have frequent bursts of expression and fast RNA decay kinetics.
- Chieh Hsu
- , Simone Scherrer
- & Attila Becskei
Complete telomere-to-telomere genomes uncover virulence evolution conferred by chromosome fusion in oomycete plant pathogens