Photo credit: Thomas Læssøe and Christoffer Bugge Harder

The genome of Mycena maculata 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 reddish-spotted bonnet, Mycena maculata

Mycena maculata is a member of the Mycena section (Maas Geesteranus 1988, Aronsen and Læssøe 2016). It grows on coniferous wood as well as hardwood as its close relative, M. galericulata, but is much less common. It can be identified by its reddish colours on its pileus and stipe, and the reddish spots that normally develops on the fruitbodies with age. As with M. galericulata, we also expect the likewise broad generalist M. maculata to contain a large and elaborate set of enzymes attacking lignin/cellulose polymers with different chemical structures (Floudas et al. 2012). However, M. maculata differs from M. galericuata by being strongly bioluminiscent (Treu and Agerer 1990). Several other Mycena species sequenced (such as M. epipterygia and M. haematopus) share this trait with M. maculata despite being more distantly related to it than the nonluminescent M. galericulata. A two-step enzymatic mechanism behind bioluminescence ("luciferin-luciferase") identical across all bioluminescent fungal taxa has been described (Oliveira et al. 2012). From the genomes of these two species, we hope to see whether the function of genetic regions coding for the luciferin-luciferase enzymes has been lost in M. galericulata, or if the genes are just not usually expressed.

This genome was derived from dikaryotic (diploid) 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 Researchers who wish to use data from unpublished Mycena genomes for publication are respectfully required to contact the PI and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications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).

Floudas, D., Binder, M., Riley, R. & Hibbett, D. e. a. The Paleozoic Origin of Enzymatic Lignin Decomposition Reconstructed from 31 Fungal Genomes. Science (2012).

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

Oliveira, A.G., Desjardin, D.E., Perry, B.A., Stevani, C.V.: Evidence that a single bioluminescent system is shared by all known bioluminescent fungal lineages. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences 11 (2): 848–852. (2012).

Treu, R, Agerer, R.:Culture characteristics of some Mycena species. Mycotaxon 38: 279-309 (1990).