Special Interest Group Meeting

Co-evolution between fungi and nematodes

Lingling Xu, Ence Yang, Yongjie Zhang, Zhiqiang An, Xingzhong Liu, Key Laboratory of Systematic Mycology & Lichenology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

A significant event in fungal evolution was the development of the ability (predatory) to capture small animals such as nematodes. To shed light on this intriguing aspect of fungal evolution, we studied a selected group of fungi in the Orbiliaceae that prey on nematodes by means of specialized trapping structures. Phylogenetic analysis based on two predatory functional gene segments, mitogen-activated protein kinase and subtilisin-like serine protease, and divergence time analysis revealed that the nematode-trapping fungi originated and differentiated their predatory trapping structures in the Mesozoic Era. Fungi with non-adhesive traps (constricting rings) diverged from non-predatory fungi ca. 210.0 million years ago (Mya). Adhesive traps, such as adhesive columns, adhesive networks, and adhesive knobs / non-constricting rings, appeared ca. 185.3, 158, and 117.3 Mya, respectively. This study confirms that the development of trapping devices is felicitous proof of adaptive evolution and the Mesozoic Era was an important geological period for the differentiation of predacious fungi.

Skip to main navigation
Skip to secondary navigation
Skip to content
Skip to sidebar for calendar files