The role of tradeoffs among life-history traits in a filamentous fungus

Abstract

Rich resource Mycelium dense and compact for resource exploitation Poor resource Mycelium thin for resource exploration B: Resource durability Short-lived resources (e.g., dung or rotting fruit) Fast mycelial growth for resource capture and then one-time reproduction after resource capture ("bang-bang life-history")semelparous life style Long-lived resources (e.g., dead tree) Slower growth and late reproduction start, with multiple reproductive periods -iteroparous life style C: Presence of competition No interaction between individuals Grow fast to monopolize resources Metabolic interactions between individuals Engage in cross-feeding or interference competition D: Conditions causing positive, negative or no MGR-spore yield correlation Novel condition causing low fitness No tradeoff, growth rate and reproduction may be positively correlated and both may improve adaptively Condition to which the fungus is relatively well adapted Tradeoff between growth rate and reproduction may be apparent and constrain further adaptation Table 1.1: Overview of the various life-history options that a fungus may adopt based on environmental conditions. (A) Resource quality, (B) Resource durability, (C) Presence of multiple individuals. (D) Describes general conditions for a tradeoff between mycelial growth rate and asexual spore yield. The alternate strategies mentioned in (A-C) are not necessarily mutually exclusive and most fungi are likely to employ a combination of these strategies based on ecology and organismal biology.

Evolutionary genetics of nonself recognition regarding social and sexual interactions of fungi

“…In fungi, they often present with phenotypes of reduced sporulation and flattened growth on agar media Fleißner et al, 2005). Recent work on laboratory evolution in fungi has shown that actually such cheating mutations are commonly encountered in many species Nandimath, 2022). While largely similar to the ascomycete lifecycle, the lifecycle of basidiomycetes, particularly those that produce mushrooms has some notable differences.…”