Emerging fungal pathogens have detrimental impacts on crops, animals, and humans, however little is known about their transition to a pathogenic lifestyle. This study demonstrates that the transition ...

Mushroom-forming fungi have along evolutionary history and a suite of important ecological roles. This Review highlights advances in understanding of Agaricomycetes evolution and ecology driven by gen...

Suillus bovinus is an ecologically significant wild ectomycorrhizal fungus that forms symbiotic associations with pine trees. Terpenoids are known to play a key role in interactions between fungi and plants. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of terpenoids on the formation of symbiotic associations with S. bovinus remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of S. bovinus terpenoids on root development and mycorrhizal formation in Pinus yunnanensis using physiological, transcriptomic, and phytohormone assays. Our findings revealed that terpenoids from S. bovinus were associated with alterations in the synthesis and signaling of cytokinin in P. yunnanensis, evidenced by changes in the expression of specific genes in the mevalonate synthesis pathway and signaling transduction, such as CKXs, AHP, and A-ARRs. Similarly, these terpenoids correlated with changes in auxin synthesis and signaling, indicated by modulated tryptophan levels and the expression of specific enzyme genes, such as GH3, AUX1, AUX/IAA, and SAUR. This suggests that terpenoids from S. bovinus may contribute to lateral root development and mycorrhizal formation in P. yunnanensis, potentially by influencing the relative levels of cytokinin and auxin. These results shed light on the potential involvement of terpenoids produced by S. bovinus in establishing symbiotic interactions between ectomycorrhizal fungi and their host plants, warranting further direct functional validation.

In this study, the authors analysed a large genomic dataset to trace how jumping genes shaped the global spread of a major wheat pathogen and reveal bursts of activity over decades that drove adaptati...

Author summary Cryptococcus is a genus of fungi that includes both pathogenic species capable of causing life-threatening infections in humans and many environmental species that inhabit soil, fruit, ...

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Combining fossil-based and molecular calibrations with data on horizontal gene transfer events, the authors develop a time-calibrated phylogeny of Fungi. This timescale, which integrates analytic uncertainties, suggests an older age of crown Fungi (1,401–896 million years ago), as well as a minimum age for ancient interactions involving fungi and the algal ancestors of embryophytes in terrestrial ecosystems (1,253–797 Ma).

DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are critical mediators of nitrogen acquisition in forest ecosystems, exhibiting variation in both host association and metabolic traits...

The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ) infects amphibians and causes chytridiomycosis, a disease linked to global amphibian decline. Despite its ecological importance, Bd has lacked ...

Nature Microbiology - A mycovirus drives the fitness of the lung-infecting fungus Aspergillus fumigatus under stress, helping it to survive within immune cells, and thus shaping its pathogenesis.