Home • Onnia scaura P-53A v1.0

Within the framework of the JGI CSP 'Metatranscriptomics of Forest Soil Ecosystems' project, we are aiming to explore the interaction of forest trees with communities of soil fungi, including ectomycorrhizal symbionts and saprotrophic soil fungi impacting carbon sequestration in forests. We are sequencing the genome of the most abundant fungal species harvested on several long-term observatories to serve as the foundation for a reference database for metagenomics and metatranscriptomics of fungi and for a comprehensive survey of the potential soil fungal metabolome.

Onnia scaura

The genus Onnia belongs to the Hymenochaetales, an order in the Agaricomycetes containing mostly wood-decayers and some parasites, mycorrhizal (Coltricia & Coltriciella) and moss-associated fungi (Rickenella). The Hymenochaetales contains approximately 600 species with most of them classified in the Hymenochaetaceae (ca. 400), where Onnia also belongs. This family includes the well-known genera Inonotus, Hymenochaete and Phellinus, which contain aggressive white rotters that can turn into pathogens in weak or damaged forests. Some species of the genus Onnia (O. tomentosa, pictured) can also be pathogens of spruce at higher altitudes, causing white pocket rot, also known as tomentosus root rot and can cause significant damage in spruce monocultures. Fruiting bodies of Onnia species are dull brown like most Hymenochaetales, astipitate or either laterally or centrally stipitate. They have a cork-like, velvety appearance often with zonate upper surface and show a characteristic black reaction to potassium-hydroxide, which is one of the traditional unifying taxonomic characters for the Hymenochaetales.

The genome of Onnia scaura will be compared to those of other saprotrophic Agaricomycotina to characterize the diversity and evolution of decay mechanisms, organismal phylogenetic relationships, and developmental evolution.

As always, please contact the PI (Francis Martin, INRA) associated with unpublished genomes for permission prior to the use of any data in publications.