Home • Dacryopinax primogenitus DJM 731 SSP1 v1.0
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Photo courtesy of Manfred Binder

This genome was sequenced as a part of the large-scale multi-genome JGI CSP Saprotrophic Agaricomycotina Project (SAP), which focuses on the diversity and evolution of decay mechanisms, organismal phylogenetic relationships, and developmental evolution. A large collaborative effort led by PI of this project, David Hibbett (Clark University) aims for master publication(s) of the SAP data analysis. Researchers who wish to publish analyses using data from unpublished SAP genomes are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the SAP master paper(s).

Dacryopinax primogenitus causes extensive decay in dead wood and represents the third group of "jelly fungi", the Dacrymycetales. Most members of the Dacrymycetales are key players in wood degradation and are equally successful, however, the enzymatic activities involved appear surprisingly diverse. For example, Dacryopinax primogenitus produces a uniform brown-rot effectively removing the carbohydrates from the substrate, manifesting itself in considerable shrinkage and weight loss of the wood. The overall morphological appearance of the decay type is consistent with that of other brown-rotting fungi but at the same time, the delignification potential in Dacryopinax primogenitus is high. Other species cause brown pocket rot (e.g., some Dacrymyces spp.), in which small pockets of the wood are discolored brown and the wooden tissue softens and collapses within the pockets. Some Calocera spp. produce symptoms that rather resemble the white-rot type. None of the decay systems in Dacrymycetales are investigated sufficiently. The genome of Dacryopinax primogenitus will facilitate the direct comparison of wood decay systems in all of the "jelly fungi" lineages (the others are Auriculariales and Tremellomycetidae) and help to resolve some of the blurry boundaries between brown and white-rot nutritional modes.

Genome Reference(s)