A research team led by the University of Alberta used genome sequencing to give these bizarre creatures their own taxonomic home. And all of a sudden this pops up," says Toby Spibill, principal investigator on the project and associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
"I like to think of these as the platypus and echidna of the mushroom world. It was a source of debate as to whether they were real.
"No one thought our fungi were fake. But they all look so different that they look alike.One million descended from a single source years before the dinosaurs went extinct. David Diaz-Escandón, who did the research as part of his
doctoral program, explains that these "strange" fungi were previously distributed in seven different classes. This is a high-level group that corresponds in animals to the groups known as mammals or reptiles. Working with a team of researchers from
countries, we obtained material from fungi, sequenced 30 genomes, and found that all but one class were derived from a single origin.
"Though they were classified, they were grouped in such different parts on the fungal side of the tree of life that people never suspected they were related," says DÃaz-Escandón.
These fungi come in many different forms, including the tongue of the earth (a spooky tongue-shaped fungus that sticks out vertically from the ground), gut microbes of beetles, and fungi found in tree sap in northern Alberta. included. This includes some rare lichens that survive in extreme habitats such as South America's Atacama Desert (the driest non-polar desert in the world).
"What's really interesting is that although these fungi look very different, they have a lot in common at the genomic level," says Spibille. "No one expected this to come."
Based on the genome, which is small compared to other fungi, the team predicted that this fungal group would depend on other organisms for life. I'm here.
"Their smaller genomes mean that this class of fungi has lost much of their ability to integrate several complex carbohydrates," said Spibille. If you look again, all of a sudden you see that they're all in some kind of symbiotic relationship.” Inheriting traits such as enzymes that break down plants.
This new group could also be a new source of information on past fungal extinctions.
"We believe that the diversity we see today is just the tip of the surviving iceberg, and mushrooms don't have many examples."