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Siedlecki I, Piątek M, Majchrowska M, Okrasińska A, Owczarek-Kościelniak M, Pawłowska J. Discovery of Formicomyces microglobosus gen. et sp. nov. strengthens the hypothesis of independent evolution of ant-associated fungi in Trichomeriaceae. Fungal Biol 2023; 127:1466-1474. [PMID: 38097320 DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2023.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Different groups of fungi have been reported to interact with ants. Recent studies have shown that fungi of the order Chaetothyriales are important components of ant-fungus networks, including members of the family Trichomeriaceae, which is particularly rich in fungi isolated from carton ants nests. One of the still understudied ant-related environments are ants' infrabuccal pockets and pellets, which often contain fungal matter. The aim of this work was to determine the systematic and phylogenetic position of two slow growing strains of Trichomeriaceae isolated from infrabuccal pellets of Formica polyctena ants. Molecular analyses based on maximum likelihood and bayesian inference, using sequences of two ribosomal DNA markers: ITS and LSU have shown that the isolated strains form a monophyletic clade within the family Trichomeriaceae, sister to a clade formed by representatives of the genus Trichomerium. Morphological analyses additionally justified distinctiveness of the isolated strains, which have different morphology of conidia and conidiophores than Trichomerium representatives. Therefore, our results show that the isolated strains represent a new species within a not yet described fungal genus. Due to the strains' isolation source and their close relatedness to a fungal strain isolated from a carton nest of Lasius fuliginosus, we propose a name Formicomyces microglobosus Siedlecki & Piątek for this fungus. While our discovery strengthens a hypothesis of the multiple, independent evolution of ant-associated fungi in the family Trichomeriaceae, the ecology of F. microglobosus still remains to be characterized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Siedlecki
- University of Warsaw Botanic Garden, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478, Warsaw, Poland; Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Marcin Piątek
- W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Maria Majchrowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Alicja Okrasińska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
| | | | - Julia Pawłowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
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Montez M, Majchrowska M, Krzyszton M, Bokota G, Sacharowski S, Wrona M, Yatusevich R, Massana F, Plewczynski D, Swiezewski S. Promoter-pervasive transcription causes RNA polymerase II pausing to boost DOG1 expression in response to salt. EMBO J 2023; 42:e112443. [PMID: 36705062 PMCID: PMC9975946 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2022112443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic genomes are pervasively transcribed by RNA polymerase II. Yet, the molecular and biological implications of such a phenomenon are still largely puzzling. Here, we describe noncoding RNA transcription upstream of the Arabidopsis thaliana DOG1 gene, which governs salt stress responses and is a key regulator of seed dormancy. We find that expression of the DOG1 gene is induced by salt stress, thereby causing a delay in seed germination. We uncover extensive transcriptional activity on the promoter of the DOG1 gene, which produces a variety of lncRNAs. These lncRNAs, named PUPPIES, are co-directionally transcribed and extend into the DOG1 coding region. We show that PUPPIES RNAs respond to salt stress and boost DOG1 expression, resulting in delayed germination. This positive role of pervasive PUPPIES transcription on DOG1 gene expression is associated with augmented pausing of RNA polymerase II, slower transcription and higher transcriptional burst size. These findings highlight the positive role of upstream co-directional transcription in controlling transcriptional dynamics of downstream genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Montez
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Maria Majchrowska
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Michal Krzyszton
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Grzegorz Bokota
- Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics, Centre of New TechnologiesUniversity of WarsawWarsawPoland
| | - Sebastian Sacharowski
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Magdalena Wrona
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Ruslan Yatusevich
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Ferran Massana
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
| | - Dariusz Plewczynski
- Laboratory of Functional and Structural Genomics, Centre of New TechnologiesUniversity of WarsawWarsawPoland
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Faculty of Mathematics and Information ScienceWarsaw University of TechnologyWarsawPoland
| | - Szymon Swiezewski
- Laboratory of Seeds Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and BiophysicsPolish Academy of SciencesWarsawPoland
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Okrasińska A, Decewicz P, Majchrowska M, Dziewit L, Muszewska A, Dolatabadi S, Kruszewski Ł, Błocka Z, Pawłowska J. Marginal lands and fungi - linking the type of soil contamination with fungal community composition. Environ Microbiol 2022; 24:3809-3825. [PMID: 35415861 PMCID: PMC9544152 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.16007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Fungi can be found in almost all ecosystems. Some of them can even survive in harsh, anthropogenically transformed environments, such as post-industrial soils. In order to verify how the soil fungal diversity may be changed by pollution, two soil samples from each of the 28 post-industrial sites were collected. Each soil sample was characterized in terms of concentration of heavy metals and petroleum derivatives. To identify soil fungal communities, fungal ITS2 amplicon was sequenced for each sample using Illumina MiSeq platform. There were significant differences in the community structure and taxonomic diversity among the analyzed samples. The highest taxon richness and evenness were observed in the non-polluted sites, and lower numbers of taxa were identified in multi-polluted soils. The presence of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, gasoline, and mineral oil were determined as the factors driving the differences in the mycobiome. Further, in the culture-based selection experiment, two main groups of fungi growing on polluted media were identified - generalists able to live in the presence of pollution, and specialists adapted to the usage of BTEX as a sole source of energy. Our selection experiment proved that it is long-term soil contamination that shapes the community, rather than temporary addition of pollutant. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicja Okrasińska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Centre of Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
| | - Przemyslaw Decewicz
- Department of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maria Majchrowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Centre of Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
| | - Lukasz Dziewit
- Department of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Muszewska
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Łukasz Kruszewski
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Zuzanna Błocka
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Centre of Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
| | - Julia Pawłowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Centre of Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw
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Gorczak M, Siedlecki I, Błocka Z, Cullen M, Daniele I, Fox H, Harder C, Kinnunen J, Kochanowski M, Krisai-Greilhuber I, Majchrowska M, Meiere D, Oberhofer M, Schigel D, Senn-Irlet B, Wiktorowicz D, Wrzosek M, Pawłowska J. 18th Congress of European Mycologists Bioblitz 2019 – Naturalists Contribute to the Knowledge of Mycobiota and Lichenobiota of Białowieża Primeval Forest. Acta Mycol 2021. [DOI: 10.5586/am.55211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A total of 561 records of 233 species of fungi are reported from the Polish part of Białowieża Forest as a result of a short-term inventory that was conducted during the 18th Congress of European Mycologists (September 18–29, 2019). Four species new to Poland (<em>Bryocentria</em><em> brongniartii</em>, <em>Tremella coppinsii</em>, <em>T. </em><em>hypocenomycis</em>, and <em>Zevadia peroccidentalis</em>), and eight species new to Białowieża Primeval Forest (<em>Hypomyces chrysostomus</em>, <em>Hypomyces rosellus</em>, <em>Lachnellula resinaria</em>, <em>Peniophora lycii</em>, <em>Phellinus viticola</em>, <em>Phlebia subochracea</em>, <em>Pronectria anisospora</em>, and <em>Typhula quisquiliaris</em>) were recorded.
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