Ascodesmis nigricans organism description
Ascodesmis nigricans is a member of the Pezizales, a phylogenetically basal group of filamentous ascomycetes. So far, only few Pezizales genomes have been sequenced, and they differ widely in size and gene content. Thus, only preliminary conclusions about genome evolution in basal filamentous ascomycetes are possible. The A. nigricans genome will therefore help to close the knowledge gap that still exists in the genomics of early-diverging lineages of filamentous ascomycetes. Furthermore, A. nigricans is one of the few Pezizales that is able to produce fruiting bodies (sexual structures) under laboratory conditions; therefore, it can be used as a model organism for comparative studies to analyze the development of complex multicellular structures in ascomycetes. A. nigricans is a coprophilic fungus that can be isolated from animal dung of a wide variety of species; and thus, its enzyme complement for primary metabolism, e.g. of carbon and nitrogen sources, can be expected to reflect its ecological niche. It will be of interest to compare the metabolic potential of A. nigricans to that of basal filamentous ascomycetes from other habitats as well as to coprophilic fungi from more derived phylogenetic groups to trace the evolution of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in fungi.
Genome Reference(s)
Lütkenhaus R, Traeger S, Breuer J, Carreté L, Kuo A, Lipzen A, Pangilinan J, Dilworth D, Sandor L, Pöggeler S, Gabaldón T, Barry K, Grigoriev IV, Nowrousian M
Comparative Genomics and Transcriptomics To Analyze Fruiting Body Development in Filamentous Ascomycetes.
Genetics. 2019 Dec;213(4):1545-1563. doi: 10.1534/genetics.119.302749