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Mycena belliae
The actual collection that has been cultured and subsequently sequenced. Photo credit: Christoffer Bugge Harder and Thomas Læssøe.

The genome of Mycena belliae was sequenced as part of the Mycenaceae sequencing project and the overarching JGI 1000 Fungal Genomes project “Deep Sequencing of Ecologically-relevant Dikarya“ (CSP 1974). This project will examine members of the Mycena genus to evaluate the genomic basis of their different nutritional modes.

The common reed bonnet, Mycena belliae

M. belliae is a member of the Bellia (?) section of the Mycena family (Maas Geesteranus 1988). The collection for the sequenced culture was collected in Denmark (Bromme Lillesø, W Zealand) the 28th of October 2015 on reed. M. belliae is found exclusively on dead stands of the common reed (Phragmites australis) in inland freshwater lakes, usually at water depths between 10 and 50 cm.

This species is impossible to confound due to its specialised and very narrow substrate preference. It is an uncommon species that has been reported from only a few European countries in the southern temperate zone (Maas Geesteranus 1988, Robich 2016, Aronsen & Læssøe 2016).

Pileus up to 20 mm across, at first hemispherical, then flat to convex, soon with depressed centre or becoming umbilicate to infundibuliform, translucent-striate, minutely tomentose when very young, glabrescent and becoming viscid, covered with a separable, tough, gelatinous pellicle, fairly pale grey-brown, dingy yellowish brown, with age turning reddish brown to sepia brown, paler at the centre, finally fading to dingy whitish, the margin at first strongly involute, then straight. Odour variously experienced as indistinctive, agreeable but hard to describe or reminiscent of the smell of Sphagnum. Taste indistinctive or slightly bitter. Lamellae 18-26 reaching the stipe, somewhat elastic, arcuate, up to 3 mm broad, fairly thick, broadly adnate, deeply decurrent, smooth or ribbed, becoming dorsally intervenose, dingy white to very pale sepia brownish, sometimes with a pink flush.. Stipe up to 65 x 3 mm, hollow, somewhat elastic, equal for the greater part or somewhat broadened below, terete, straight to curved, smooth, at first minutely but densely white-puberulous all over, glabrescent and becoming somewhat glutinous, pure white in very young specimens, then watery whitish, discolouring pale yellowish brown or pale grey-brown from base upwards, finally with the base darkening.1

We expect the genomic architecture of such a narrow specialist species to reveal a limited (contracted) set of genes related to degradation of a single species as substrate. It will be interesting in comparison to the other less specialised as well as generalist Mycenas.

This genome was derived from monokaryotic (haploid) pure culture on MEA agar with ampicilin and benomyl and should be free of xenobiotic contaminations. Researchers who wish to use data from unpublished Mycena genomes for publication are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the Mycena master paper(s).

References

Aronsen, A.; Læssøe, T.: The genus Mycena s.l. in The Fungi of Northern Europe, vol. 5. Copenhagen, 373 p (2016).

Maas Geesteranus, R. A. (1988): Conspectus of the Mycenas of the Northern Hemisphere. Proc. Kon. Ned. Akad. v. Wetensch. (Ser. C).

Robich, G: Mycena d'Europa vol. 2. Centro Studi Micologici. A.M.B, Trento, p. 733-1528 (2016)

1http://www.mycena.no/belliae.htm