Cristinia sonorae KKN 215 growing in the lab. [Photo credit: Jon Karl Magnuson]

Cristinia sonorae was formally described by Nakasone and Gilbertson (1978) as a white rot pathogen on Ocotillo in the Sonoran Desert.

Cristinia sonorae is a member of the Atheliaceae family from the order Atheliales, and was sequenced as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project. The 1000 Fungal Genomes Project aims fill in gaps in the Fungal Tree of Life by sequencing at least two reference genomes from the more than 500 recognized families of Fungi. This project additionally aims to inform research on plant-microbe interactions, microbial emission and capture of greenhouse gasses, and environmental metagenomic sequencing.