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Gomes RMODS, da Silva KJG, Ferreira LC, Arantes TD, Theodoro RC. Distribution and Polymorphisms of Group I Introns in Mitochondrial Genes from Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:629. [PMID: 37367565 DOI: 10.3390/jof9060629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The species complexes Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the causative agents of cryptococcosis. Virulence and susceptibility to antifungals may vary within each species according to the fungal genotype. Therefore, specific and easily accessible molecular markers are required to distinguish cryptic species and/or genotypes. Group I introns are potential markers for this purpose because they are polymorphic concerning their presence and sequence. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the presence of group I introns in the mitochondrial genes cob and cox1 in different Cryptococcus isolates. Additionally, the origin, distribution, and evolution of these introns were investigated by phylogenetic analyses, including previously sequenced introns for the mtLSU gene. Approximately 80.5% of the 36 sequenced introns presented homing endonucleases, and phylogenetic analyses revealed that introns occupying the same insertion site form monophyletic clades. This suggests that they likely share a common ancestor that invaded the site prior to species divergence. There was only one case of heterologous invasion, probably through horizontal transfer to C. decagattii (VGIV genotype) from another fungal species. Our results showed that the C. neoformans complex has fewer introns compared to C. gattii. Additionally, there is significant polymorphism in the presence and size of these elements, both among and within genotypes. As a result, it is impossible to differentiate the cryptic species using a single intron. However, it was possible to differentiate among genotypes within each species complex, by combining PCRs of mtLSU and cox1 introns, for C. neoformans species, and mtLSU and cob introns for C. gattii species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Leonardo Capistrano Ferreira
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59064-741, RN, Brazil
- Department of Biochemistry, Center of Bioscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59064-741, RN, Brazil
| | - Thales Domingos Arantes
- Institute of Tropical Pathology and Public Health, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia 74605-050, GO, Brazil
| | - Raquel Cordeiro Theodoro
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59064-741, RN, Brazil
- Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Center of Bioscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59064-741, RN, Brazil
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2
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Zhang MZ, Xu JP, Callac P, Chen MY, Wu Q, Wach M, Mata G, Zhao RL. Insight into the evolutionary and domesticated history of the most widely cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus via mitogenome sequences of 361 global strains. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:182. [PMID: 37020265 PMCID: PMC10077685 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09257-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Agaricus bisporus is the most widely cultivated edible mushroom in the world with a only around three hundred years known history of cultivation. Therefore, it represents an ideal organism not only to investigate the natural evolutionary history but also the understanding on the evolution going back to the early era of domestication. In this study, we generated the mitochondrial genome sequences of 352 A. bisporus strains and 9 strains from 4 closely related species around the world. The population mitogenomic study revealed all A. bisporus strains can be divided into seven clades, and all domesticated cultivars present only in two of those clades. The molecular dating analysis showed this species origin in Europe on 4.6 Ma and we proposed the main dispersal routes. The detailed mitogenome structure studies showed that the insertion of the plasmid-derived dpo gene caused a long fragment (MIR) inversion, and the distributions of the fragments of dpo gene were strictly in correspondence with these seven clades. Our studies also showed A. bisporus population contains 30 intron distribution patterns (IDPs), while all cultivars contain only two IDPs, which clearly exhibit intron loss compared to the others. Either the loss occurred before or after domestication, that could suggest that the change facilitates their adaptation to the cultivated environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Zhe Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No3 1St Beichen West Road, Beijing, 100101, Chaoyang District, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huairou District, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Jian-Ping Xu
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | | | - Mei-Yuan Chen
- Edible Fungi Institute of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 350014, China
| | - Qi Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No3 1St Beichen West Road, Beijing, 100101, Chaoyang District, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huairou District, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Mark Wach
- Sylvan BioSciences, Kittanning, PA, 16201, USA
| | - Gerardo Mata
- Instituto de Ecología A.C. Carretera Antigua a Coatepec, 351, El Haya, 91073, Veracruz, CPXalapa, Mexico
| | - Rui-Lin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No3 1St Beichen West Road, Beijing, 100101, Chaoyang District, China.
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huairou District, Beijing, 101408, China.
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3
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Fatma T, Ahmed Khan H, Ahmed A, Adnan F, Zeshan, Virk N, Faraz Bhatti M. Functional annotation and comparative analysis of four Botrytis cinerea mitogenomes reported from Punjab, Pakistan. Saudi J Biol Sci 2023; 30:103605. [PMID: 36950365 PMCID: PMC10025148 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2023.103605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Botrytis cinerea is one of the top phytopathogenic fungus which ubiquitously cause grey mold on a variety of horticultural plants. The mechanism of respiration in the fungus occurs within the mitochondria. Mitogenomes serve as a key molecular marker for the investigation of fungal evolutionary patterns. This study aimed at the complete assembly, characterization, and comparative relationship of four mitogenomes of Botrytis cinerea strains including Kst5C, Kst14A, Kst32B, Kst33A, respectively. High throughput sequencing of four mitogenomes allowed the full assembly and annotation of these sequences. The total genome length of these 4 isolates Kst5C Kst14A, Kst32B, Kst33A was 69,986 bp, 77,303 bp, 76,204 bp and 55, 226 bp respectively. The distribution of features represented 2 ribosomal RNA genes,14 respiration encoding proteins, 1 mitochondrial ribosomal protein-encoding gene, along with varying numbers of transfer RNA genes, protein-coding genes, mobile intronic regions and homing endonuclease genes including LAGLIDADG and GIY-YIG domains were found in all four mitogenomes. The comparative analyses performed also decipher significant results for four mitogenomes among fungal isolates included in the study. This is the first report on the detailed annotation of mitogenomes as a proof for investigation of variation patterns present with in the B. cinerea causing grey mold on strawberries in Pakistan. This study will also contribute to the rapid evolutionary analysis and population patterns present among Botrytis cinerea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tehsin Fatma
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Haris Ahmed Khan
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Aqeel Ahmed
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Fazal Adnan
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Zeshan
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Nasar Virk
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Faraz Bhatti
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), 44000 Islamabad, Pakistan
- Corresponding author.
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4
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Regulatory basis for reproductive flexibility in a meningitis-causing fungal pathogen. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7938. [PMID: 36566249 PMCID: PMC9790007 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35549-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic fungi of the genus Cryptococcus can undergo two sexual cycles, involving either bisexual diploidization (after fusion of haploid cells of different mating type) or unisexual diploidization (by autodiploidization of a single cell). Here, we construct a gene-deletion library for 111 transcription factor genes in Cryptococcus deneoformans, and explore the roles of these regulatory networks in the two reproductive modes. We show that transcription factors crucial for bisexual syngamy induce the expression of known mating determinants as well as other conserved genes of unknown function. Deletion of one of these genes, which we term FMP1, leads to defects in bisexual reproduction in C. deneoformans, its sister species Cryptococcus neoformans, and the ascomycete Neurospora crassa. Furthermore, we show that a recently evolved regulatory cascade mediates pre-meiotic unisexual autodiploidization, supporting that this reproductive process is a recent evolutionary innovation. Our findings indicate that genetic circuits with different evolutionary ages govern hallmark events distinguishing unisexual and bisexual reproduction in Cryptococcus.
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5
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Mukhopadhyay J, Hausner G. Organellar Introns in Fungi, Algae, and Plants. Cells 2021; 10:cells10082001. [PMID: 34440770 PMCID: PMC8393795 DOI: 10.3390/cells10082001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Introns are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes and have long been considered as ‘junk RNA’ but the huge energy expenditure in their transcription, removal, and degradation indicate that they may have functional significance and can offer evolutionary advantages. In fungi, plants and algae introns make a significant contribution to the size of the organellar genomes. Organellar introns are classified as catalytic self-splicing introns that can be categorized as either Group I or Group II introns. There are some biases, with Group I introns being more frequently encountered in fungal mitochondrial genomes, whereas among plants Group II introns dominate within the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. Organellar introns can encode a variety of proteins, such as maturases, homing endonucleases, reverse transcriptases, and, in some cases, ribosomal proteins, along with other novel open reading frames. Although organellar introns are viewed to be ribozymes, they do interact with various intron- or nuclear genome-encoded protein factors that assist in the intron RNA to fold into competent splicing structures, or facilitate the turn-over of intron RNAs to prevent reverse splicing. Organellar introns are also known to be involved in non-canonical splicing, such as backsplicing and trans-splicing which can result in novel splicing products or, in some instances, compensate for the fragmentation of genes by recombination events. In organellar genomes, Group I and II introns may exist in nested intronic arrangements, such as introns within introns, referred to as twintrons, where splicing of the external intron may be dependent on splicing of the internal intron. These nested or complex introns, with two or three-component intron modules, are being explored as platforms for alternative splicing and their possible function as molecular switches for modulating gene expression which could be potentially applied towards heterologous gene expression. This review explores recent findings on organellar Group I and II introns, focusing on splicing and mobility mechanisms aided by associated intron/nuclear encoded proteins and their potential roles in organellar gene expression and cross talk between nuclear and organellar genomes. Potential application for these types of elements in biotechnology are also discussed.
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MESH Headings
- Evolution, Molecular
- Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
- Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
- Genome, Fungal
- Genome, Plant
- Introns
- Organelles/genetics
- Organelles/metabolism
- RNA Splicing
- RNA Stability
- RNA, Algal/genetics
- RNA, Algal/metabolism
- RNA, Fungal/genetics
- RNA, Fungal/metabolism
- RNA, Plant/genetics
- RNA, Plant/metabolism
- RNA, Untranslated/genetics
- RNA, Untranslated/metabolism
- Transcription, Genetic
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6
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Li Q, Li L, Feng H, Tu W, Bao Z, Xiong C, Wang X, Qing Y, Huang W. Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Basidiomycete Yeast Hannaella oryzae: Intron Evolution, Gene Rearrangement, and Its Phylogeny. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:646567. [PMID: 34122362 PMCID: PMC8193148 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.646567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, the mitogenome of Hannaella oryzae was sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and successfully assembled. The H. oryzae mitogenome comprised circular DNA molecules with a total size of 26,444 bp. We found that the mitogenome of H. oryzae partially deleted the tRNA gene transferring cysteine. Comparative mitogenomic analyses showed that intronic regions were the main factors contributing to the size variations of mitogenomes in Tremellales. Introns of the cox1 gene in Tremellales species were found to have undergone intron loss/gain events, and introns of the H. oryzae cox1 gene may have different origins. Gene arrangement analysis revealed that H. oryzae contained a unique gene order different from other Tremellales species. Phylogenetic analysis based on a combined mitochondrial gene set resulted in identical and well-supported topologies, wherein H. oryzae was closely related to Tremella fuciformis. This study represents the first report of mitogenome for the Hannaella genus, which will allow further study of the population genetics, taxonomy, and evolutionary biology of this important phylloplane yeast and other related species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Lijiao Li
- Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Huiyu Feng
- Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wenying Tu
- Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhijie Bao
- Key Laboratory of Coarse Cereal Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
| | - Chuan Xiong
- Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Xu Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yuan Qing
- Panxi Featured Crops Research and Utilization Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Xichang University, Xichang, China
| | - Wenli Huang
- Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China
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7
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Wai A, Hausner G. The mitochondrial genome of Ophiostoma himal-ulmi and comparison with other fungi causing Dutch elm disease. Can J Microbiol 2021; 67:584-598. [PMID: 33566742 DOI: 10.1139/cjm-2020-0589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The mitochondrial genome of Ophiostoma himal-ulmi, a species endemic to the Western Himalayas and one of the fungi that cause Dutch elm disease, has been sequenced and characterized. The mitochondrial genome was compared with other available genomes for members of the Ophiostomatales, including other agents of Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi, Ophiostoma novo-ulmi subspecies novo-ulmi, and Ophiostoma novo-ulmi subspecies americana), and it was observed that gene synteny is highly conserved, and variability among members of the fungi that cause Dutch-elm disease is primarily due to the number of intron insertions. Among the fungi that cause Dutch elm disease that we examined, O. himal-ulmi has the largest mitochondrial genomes (ranging from 94 934 to 111 712 bp), owing to the expansion of the number of introns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvan Wai
- Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada.,Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Georg Hausner
- Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada.,Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
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8
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Mitochondrial Inheritance in Phytopathogenic Fungi-Everything Is Known, or Is It? Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21113883. [PMID: 32485941 PMCID: PMC7312866 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21113883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondria are important organelles in eukaryotes that provide energy for cellular processes. Their function is highly conserved and depends on the expression of nuclear encoded genes and genes encoded in the organellar genome. Mitochondrial DNA replication is independent of the replication control of nuclear DNA and as such, mitochondria may behave as selfish elements, so they need to be controlled, maintained and reliably inherited to progeny. Phytopathogenic fungi meet with special environmental challenges within the plant host that might depend on and influence mitochondrial functions and services. We find that this topic is basically unexplored in the literature, so this review largely depends on work published in other systems. In trying to answer elemental questions on mitochondrial functioning, we aim to introduce the aspect of mitochondrial functions and services to the study of plant-microbe-interactions and stimulate phytopathologists to consider research on this important organelle in their future projects.
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9
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Wang Y, Xu J. Mitochondrial Genome Polymorphisms in the Human Pathogenic Fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:706. [PMID: 32373103 PMCID: PMC7186387 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The Cryptococcus complex consists of at least seven evolutionary divergent lineages and causes ∼200,000 fatal human infections each year worldwide. The dominant lineage is Cryptococcus neoformans which consists of three haploid clades VNI, VNII, and VNB, their haploid hybrids, and various diploids derived from intra- and inter-clade mating events. In this study, we analyzed the mitogenomes of 184 strains of C. neoformans. Our analyses revealed that all 184 mitogenomes contained the same 15 protein-coding genes in the same gene order. However, their mitogenome sizes varied between 24,740 and 31,327 bp, primarily due to differences in the number and size of mitochondrial introns. Twelve nucleotide sites within five mitochondrial genes were found to contain introns in at least one of the 184 strains, ranging from 2 to 7 introns within each mitogenome. The concatenated mitochondrial exon sequences of the 15 protein-coding genes and two rRNA genes showed that VNI, VNII, and VNB strains were separated into distinct clades or sub-clades, largely consistent with results based on nuclear genome SNPs. However, several novel findings were observed. First, one strain of the VNB clade contained mitogenome exon sequences identical to the main VNI mitogenome type but was distant to other VNB mitogenomes. Second, hybrids among clades VNI, VNII, and VNB identified based on their nuclear genome SNPs contained mitogenomes from different clades, with evidence of their mitogenomes inherited from either the MAT a or the MAT α parents. Third, the eight diploid VNB (C. neoformans) × VNIV (C. deneoformans) hybrids contained recombinant mitogenomes. Fourth, analyses of intron distribution and the paired exon-intron phylogenies for each of the 12 exon-intron pairs suggested frequent gains and losses of mitochondrial introns during the evolution of C. neoformans. The combined mitogenome exon-based phylogeny and intron distributions suggested that clades VNI, VNII and VNB could be further divided into sub-clades. Together, our results revealed a dynamic evolution of mitochondrial genomes in this important human fungal pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Wang
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Jianping Xu
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Institute of Bast Fiber Crops and Center of Southern Economic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, China
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10
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Zhang Y, Yang G, Fang M, Deng C, Zhang KQ, Yu Z, Xu J. Comparative Analyses of Mitochondrial Genomes Provide Evolutionary Insights Into Nematode-Trapping Fungi. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:617. [PMID: 32351475 PMCID: PMC7174627 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Predatory fungi in Orbiliaceae (Ascomycota) have evolved a diversity of trapping devices that enable them to trap and kill nematodes, other small animals, and protozoans. These trapping devices include adhesive hyphae, adhesive knobs, adhesive networks, constricting rings, and non-constricting rings. Their diversity and practical importance have attracted significant attention from biologists, making them excellent model organisms for studying adaptative evolution and as biological control agents against parasitic nematodes. The putative origins and evolutionary relationships among these carnivorous fungi have been investigated using nuclear protein-encoding genes, but their patterns of mitogenome relationships and divergences remain unknown. Here we analyze and compare the mitogenomes of 12 fungal strains belonging to eight species, including six species representing all four types of nematode trapping devices and two from related but non-predatory fungi. All 12 analyzed mitogenomes were of circular DNA molecules, with lengths ranging from 146,101 bp to 280,699 bp. Gene synteny analysis revealed several gene rearrangements and intron transfers among the mitogenomes. In addition, the number of protein coding genes (PCGs), GC content, AT skew, and GC skew varied among these mitogenomes. The increased number and total size of introns were the main contributors to the length differences among the mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses of the protein-coding genes indicated that mitochondrial and nuclear genomes evolved at different rates, and signals of positive selection were found in several genes involved in energy metabolism. Our study provides novel insights into the evolution of nematode-trapping fungi and shall facilitate further investigations of this ecologically and agriculturally important group of fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Guangzhu Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Meiling Fang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Chu Deng
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Ke-Qin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Zefen Yu
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Jianping Xu
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, and Key Laboratory for Southwest Microbial Diversity of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
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11
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Lee HH, Ke HM, Lin CYI, Lee TJ, Chung CL, Tsai IJ. Evidence of Extensive Intraspecific Noncoding Reshuffling in a 169-kb Mitochondrial Genome of a Basidiomycetous Fungus. Genome Biol Evol 2020; 11:2774-2788. [PMID: 31418013 PMCID: PMC6786477 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evz181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative genomics of fungal mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) have revealed a remarkable pattern of rearrangement between and within major phyla owing to horizontal gene transfer and recombination. The role of recombination was exemplified at a finer evolutionary time scale in basidiomycetes group of fungi as they display a diversity of mitochondrial DNA inheritance patterns. Here, we assembled mitogenomes of six species from the Hymenochaetales order of basidiomycetes and examined 59 mitogenomes from 2 genetic lineages of Phellinus noxius. Gene order is largely collinear, while intergene regions are major determinants of mitogenome size variation. Substantial sequence divergence was found in shared introns consistent with high horizontal gene transfer frequency observed in yeasts, but we also identified a rare case where an intron was retained in five species since speciation. In contrast to the hyperdiversity observed in nuclear genomes of Phellinus noxius, mitogenomes’ intraspecific polymorphisms at protein-coding sequences are extremely low. Phylogeny network based on introns revealed turnover as well as exchange of introns between two lineages. Strikingly, some strains harbor a mosaic origin of introns from both lineages. Analysis of intergenic sequence indicated substantial differences between and within lineages, and an expansion may be ongoing as a result of exchange between distal intergenes. These findings suggest that the evolution in mitochondrial DNAs is usually lineage specific but chimeric mitotypes are frequently observed, thus capturing the possible evolutionary processes shaping mitogenomes in a basidiomycete. The large mitogenome sizes reported in various basidiomycetes appear to be a result of interspecific reshuffling of intergenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Han Lee
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Huei-Mien Ke
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Chan-Yi Ivy Lin
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Tracy J Lee
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan.,Biodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan.,Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Lin Chung
- Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Isheng J Tsai
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei City, Taiwan
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12
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Sun S, Fu C, Ianiri G, Heitman J. The Pheromone and Pheromone Receptor Mating-Type Locus Is Involved in Controlling Uniparental Mitochondrial Inheritance in Cryptococcus. Genetics 2020; 214:703-717. [PMID: 31888949 PMCID: PMC7054021 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.119.302824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitochondria are inherited uniparentally during sexual reproduction in the majority of eukaryotic species studied, including humans, mice, and nematodes, as well as many fungal species. Mitochondrial uniparental inheritance (mito-UPI) could be beneficial in that it avoids possible genetic conflicts between organelles with different genetic backgrounds, as recently shown in mice, and it could prevent the spread of selfish genetic elements in the mitochondrial genome. Despite the prevalence of observed mito-UPI, the underlying mechanisms and the genes involved in controlling this non-Mendelian inheritance are poorly understood in many species. In Cryptococcus neoformans, a human pathogenic basidiomyceteous fungus, mating types (MATα and MATa) are defined by alternate alleles at the single MAT locus that evolved from fusion of the two MAT loci (P/R encoding pheromones and pheromone receptors, and HD encoding homeodomain transcription factors) that are the ancestral state in the basidiomycota. Mitochondria are inherited uniparentally from the MATa parent in C. neoformans, and this requires the SXI1α and SXI2a HD factors encoded by MAT However, there is evidence that additional genes contribute to the control of mito-UPI in Cryptococcus Here, we show that in C. amylolentus, a sibling species of C. neoformans with unlinked P/R and HD MAT loci, mito-UPI is controlled by the P/R locus and is independent of the HD locus. Consistently, by replacing the MATα alleles of the pheromones (MF) and pheromone receptor (STE3) with the MATa alleles, we show that these P/R locus-defining genes indeed affect mito-UPI in C. neoformans during sexual reproduction. Additionally, we show that during early stages of C. neoformans sexual reproduction, conjugation tubes are always produced by the MATα cells, resulting in unidirectional migration of the MATα nucleus into the MATa cell during zygote formation. This process is controlled by the P/R locus and could serve to physically restrict movement of MATα mitochondria in the zygotes, and thereby contribute to mito-UPI. We propose a model in which both physical and genetic mechanisms function in concert to prevent the coexistence of mitochondria from the two parents in the zygote, and subsequently in the meiotic progeny, thus ensuring mito-UPI in pathogenic Cryptococcus, as well as in closely related nonpathogenic species. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the evolution of mito-UPI in fungi and other more diverse eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Sun
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
| | - Ci Fu
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
| | - Giuseppe Ianiri
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
| | - Joseph Heitman
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
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Pogoda CS, Keepers KG, Nadiadi AY, Bailey DW, Lendemer JC, Tripp EA, Kane NC. Genome streamlining via complete loss of introns has occurred multiple times in lichenized fungal mitochondria. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:4245-4263. [PMID: 31016002 PMCID: PMC6467859 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 02/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Reductions in genome size and complexity are a hallmark of obligate symbioses. The mitochondrial genome displays clear examples of these reductions, with the ancestral alpha-proteobacterial genome size and gene number having been reduced by orders of magnitude in most descendent modern mitochondrial genomes. Here, we examine patterns of mitochondrial evolution specifically looking at intron size, number, and position across 58 species from 21 genera of lichenized Ascomycete fungi, representing a broad range of fungal diversity and niches. Our results show that the cox1gene always contained the highest number of introns out of all the mitochondrial protein-coding genes, that high intron sequence similarity (>90%) can be maintained between different genera, and that lichens have undergone at least two instances of complete, genome-wide intron loss consistent with evidence for genome streamlining via loss of parasitic, noncoding DNA, in Phlyctis boliviensisand Graphis lineola. Notably, however, lichenized fungi have not only undergone intron loss but in some instances have expanded considerably in size due to intron proliferation (e.g., Alectoria fallacina and Parmotrema neotropicum), even between closely related sister species (e.g., Cladonia). These results shed light on the highly dynamic mitochondrial evolution that is occurring in lichens and suggest that these obligate symbiotic organisms are in some cases undergoing recent, broad-scale genome streamlining via loss of protein-coding genes as well as noncoding, parasitic DNA elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cloe S. Pogoda
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
| | - Kyle G. Keepers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
| | - Arif Y. Nadiadi
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
| | - Dustin W. Bailey
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
| | - James C. Lendemer
- Institute of Systematic BotanyThe New York Botanical GardenBronxNew York
| | - Erin A. Tripp
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
- Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
| | - Nolan C. Kane
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ColoradoBoulderColorado
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Hua W, Vogan A, Xu J. Genotypic and Phenotypic Analyses of Two “Isogenic” Strains of the Human Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans. Mycopathologia 2019; 184:195-212. [DOI: 10.1007/s11046-019-00328-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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15
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Fungal mitochondrial genomes and genetic polymorphisms. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 102:9433-9448. [PMID: 30209549 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-9350-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2018] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of eukaryotic cells, responsible for ATP generation and playing a role in a diversity of cellular and organismal functions. Different from the majority of other intracellular membrane structures, mitochondria contain their own genetic materials that are capable of independent replication and inheritance. In this mini-review, we provide brief summaries of fungal mitochondrial genome structure, size, gene content, inheritance, and genetic variation. We pay special attention to the relative genetic polymorphisms of the mitochondrial vs nuclear genomes at the population level within individual fungal species. Among the 20 species/groups of species reviewed here, there is a range of variation among genes and species in the relative nuclear and mitochondrial genetic polymorphisms. Interestingly, most (15/20) showed a greater genetic diversity for nuclear genes and genomes than for mitochondrial genes and genomes, with the remaining five showing similar or slower nuclear genome genetic variations. This fungal pattern is different from the dominant pattern in animals, but more similar to that in plants. At present, the mechanisms for the variations among fungal species and the overall low level of mitochondrial sequence polymorphisms are not known. The increasing availability of population genomic data should help us reveal the potential genetic and ecological factors responsible for the observed variations.
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