Comparative genomics reveals unique wood‐decay strategies and fruiting body development in the Schizophyllaceae

Abstract

Summary Agaricomycetes are fruiting body‐forming fungi that produce some of the most efficient enzyme systems to degrade wood. Despite decades‐long interest in their biology, the evolution and functional diversity of both wood‐decay and fruiting body formation are incompletely known. We performed comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses of wood‐decay and fruiting body development in Auriculariopsis ampla and Schizophyllum commune (Schizophyllaceae), species with secondarily simplified morphologies, an enigmatic wood‐decay strategy and weak pathogenicity to woody plants. The plant cell wall‐degrading enzyme repertoires of Schizophyllaceae are transitional between those of white rot species and less efficient wood‐degraders such as brown rot or mycorrhizal fungi. Rich repertoires of suberinase and tannase genes were found in both species, with tannases restricted to Agaricomycetes that preferentially colonize bark‐covered wood, suggesting potential complementation of their weaker wood‐decaying abilities and adaptations to wood colonization through the bark. Fruiting body transcriptomes revealed a high rate of divergence in developmental gene expression, but also several genes with conserved expression patterns, including novel transcription factors and small‐secreted proteins, some of the latter which might represent fruiting body effectors. Taken together, our analyses highlighted novel aspects of wood‐decay and fruiting body development in an important family of mushroom‐forming fungi.

Comparative Genomics and Transcriptomics To Analyze Fruiting Body Development in Filamentous Ascomycetes

“…including genes for cell wall remodeling, adhesion, signal transduction, transcription factors, and protein degradation (Almási et al 2019;Krizsán et al 2019;Morin et al 2012;Ohm et al 2010;Plaza et al 2014). This confirms preliminary results based on comparisons of mycelia of P.…”

The small secreted effector protein MiSSP7.6 of Laccaria bicolor is required for the establishment of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis

“…Besides ECM rootlets, MiSSP8 also accumulates in fruiting bodies, which is something different from MiSSP7 (Pellegrin et al, 2019). Interestingly, some of SSPs have recently been shown to be upregulated during fruiting bodies development in the Schizophyllaceae by comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses (Almasi et al, 2019).…”

Chemical composition of material extractives influences microbial growth and dynamics on wetted wood materials

“…Brown rot, associated with members of Fomitopsidaceae, results from the breakdown of the structural compounds cellulose and hemicellulose by fungal enzymes and alters the wood into shrunken, brown-discolored cubical pieces 65 . Differing from Fomitopsidaceae, certain species of Meruliaceae and Schizophyllaceae families cause another form of wood rot called white rot, wherein the lignin of moist wood is broken down, leaving behind a stringy, light-colored material composed mostly of undigested cellulose 66,67 .…”