Early-diverging fungal phyla: taxonomy, species concept, ecology, distribution, anthropogenic impact, and novel phylogenetic proposals

Kerstin Voigt; Timothy Y James; Paul M Kirk; André L C M de A Santiago; Bruce Waldman; Gareth W Griffith; Minjie Fu; Renate Radek; Jürgen F H Strassert; Christian Wurzbacher; Gustavo Henrique Jerônimo; David R Simmons; Kensuke Seto; Eleni Gentekaki; Vedprakash G Hurdeal; Kevin D Hyde; Thuong T T Nguyen; Hyang Burm Lee

doi:10.1007/s13225-021-00480-y

Early-diverging fungal phyla: taxonomy, species concept, ecology, distribution, anthropogenic impact, and novel phylogenetic proposals

Fungal Divers. 2021;109(1):59-98. doi: 10.1007/s13225-021-00480-y. Epub 2021 Sep 29.

Authors

Kerstin Voigt^{1

2}, Timothy Y James³, Paul M Kirk⁴, André L C M de A Santiago⁵, Bruce Waldman^{6

7}, Gareth W Griffith⁸, Minjie Fu⁶, Renate Radek⁹, Jürgen F H Strassert¹⁰, Christian Wurzbacher¹¹, Gustavo Henrique Jerônimo³, David R Simmons³, Kensuke Seto³, Eleni Gentekaki^{12

13}, Vedprakash G Hurdeal^{12

13}, Kevin D Hyde¹³, Thuong T T Nguyen¹⁴, Hyang Burm Lee¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Jena Microbial Resource Collection, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 23, 07745 Jena, Germany.
² Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Neugasse 25, 07743 Jena, Germany.
³ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.
⁴ Biodiversity Informatics and Spatial Analysis, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Surrey, TW9 3DS UK.
⁵ Department of Mycology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Da Engenharia, s/n, Recife, PE 50740-4600 Brazil.
⁶ School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826 South Korea.
⁷ Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA.
⁸ Institute of Biological, Environmental, and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DD Wales UK.
⁹ Institute of Biology/Zoology, Evolutionary Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Ecosystem Research, 12587 Berlin, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany.
¹² School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100 Thailand.
¹³ Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100 Thailand.
¹⁴ Environmental Microbiology Lab, Department of Agricultural Biological Chemistry, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186 South Korea.

Abstract

The increasing number of new fungal species described from all over the world along with the use of genetics to define taxa, has dramatically changed the classification system of early-diverging fungi over the past several decades. The number of phyla established for non-Dikarya fungi has increased from 2 to 17. However, to date, both the classification and phylogeny of the basal fungi are still unresolved. In this article, we review the recent taxonomy of the basal fungi and re-evaluate the relationships among early-diverging lineages of fungal phyla. We also provide information on the ecology and distribution in Mucoromycota and highlight the impact of chytrids on amphibian populations. Species concepts in Chytridiomycota, Aphelidiomycota, Rozellomycota, Neocallimastigomycota are discussed in this paper. To preserve the current application of the genus Nephridiophaga (Chytridiomycota: Nephridiophagales), a new type species, Nephridiophaga blattellae, is proposed.

Keywords: Early-diverging fungi; Evolution; Molecular phylogeny; Nuclear large subunit (LSU/28S); Nuclear small subunit (SSU/18S).

Publication types

Review