Glonium stellatum (Gloniaceae, Mytilinidiales, Dothideomycetes) produces darkly pigmented, carbonaceous ascomata on bark, wood or soil. The asci are clavate to cylindrical and fissitunicate, and the ascospores are hyaline to lightly pigmented with a single conspicuous septum (Boehm et al 2009). Ecologically, Glonium is characterized as a decomposer of plant material, however, recently it was determined to be a close relative to the biotrophic genus Cenococcum (Spatafora et al. 2013). Cenococcum is one of the most commonly encountered genera of mycorrhizal fungi; also, it is the only genus of mycorrhizal fungi in Dothideomycetes and represents an independent origin of mycorrhizae among Ascomycota. Thus, the genome of G. stellatum is an important sampling point in understanding the genetic basis for transitions in fungal ecologies and the origin of mycorrhizae and plant-asscociated fungi.
Genome Reference(s)
Peter M, Kohler A, Ohm RA, Kuo A, Krützmann J, Morin E, Arend M, Barry KW, Binder M, Choi C, Clum A, Copeland A, Grisel N, Haridas S, Kipfer T, LaButti K, Lindquist E, Lipzen A, Maire R, Meier B, Mihaltcheva S, Molinier V, Murat C, Pöggeler S, Quandt CA, Sperisen C, Tritt A, Tisserant E, Crous PW, Henrissat B, Nehls U, Egli S, Spatafora JW, Grigoriev IV, Martin FM
Ectomycorrhizal ecology is imprinted in the genome of the dominant symbiotic fungus Cenococcum geophilum.
Nat Commun. 2016 Sep 7;7():12662. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12662