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July 7, 2019  |  

Convergent losses of decay mechanisms and rapid turnover of symbiosis genes in mycorrhizal mutualists.

Authors: Kohler, Annegret and Kuo, Alan and Nagy, Laszlo G and Morin, Emmanuelle and Barry, Kerrie W and Buscot, Francois and Canbäck, Björn and Choi, Cindy and Cichocki, Nicolas and Clum, Alicia and Colpaert, Jan and Copeland, Alex and Costa, Mauricio D and Doré, Jeanne and Floudas, Dimitrios and Gay, Gilles and Girlanda, Mariangela and Henrissat, Bernard and Herrmann, Sylvie and Hess, Jaqueline and Högberg, Nils and Johansson, Tomas and Khouja, Hassine-Radhouane and LaButti, Kurt and Lahrmann, Urs and Levasseur, Anthony and Lindquist, Erika A and Lipzen, Anna and Marmeisse, Roland and Martino, Elena and Murat, Claude and Ngan, Chew Y and Nehls, Uwe and Plett, Jonathan M and Pringle, Anne and Ohm, Robin A and Perotto, Silvia and Peter, Martina and Riley, Robert and Rineau, Francois and Ruytinx, Joske and Salamov, Asaf and Shah, Firoz and Sun, Hui and Tarkka, Mika and Tritt, Andrew and Veneault-Fourrey, Claire and Zuccaro, Alga and Tunlid, Anders and Grigoriev, Igor V and Hibbett, David S and Martin, Francis

To elucidate the genetic bases of mycorrhizal lifestyle evolution, we sequenced new fungal genomes, including 13 ectomycorrhizal (ECM), orchid (ORM) and ericoid (ERM) species, and five saprotrophs, which we analyzed along with other fungal genomes. Ectomycorrhizal fungi have a reduced complement of genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs), as compared to their ancestral wood decayers. Nevertheless, they have retained a unique array of PCWDEs, thus suggesting that they possess diverse abilities to decompose lignocellulose. Similar functional categories of nonorthologous genes are induced in symbiosis. Of induced genes, 7-38% are orphan genes, including genes that encode secreted effector-like proteins. Convergent evolution of the mycorrhizal habit in fungi occurred via the repeated evolution of a 'symbiosis toolkit', with reduced numbers of PCWDEs and lineage-specific suites of mycorrhiza-induced genes.

Journal: Nature genetics
DOI: 10.1038/ng.3223
Year: 2015

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