Perithecia and mycelium of Podospora fibrinocaudata. Source: Lucas Bonometti, Institut Agro, Montpellier.

CSP 2019 Proposal "Comparative genomics and association mapping in Sordariales: insights into functional diversity in Neurospora and its relatives" aims to investigate the genomic bases of fungal thermophily and thermotolerance, biomass-degradation, and fungal-bacterial interactions. Sequencing multiple populations and species of Sordariales will enable comparative analysis across an order of biomass-degrading fungi frequently encountered in soil, compost and herbivore dung, and encompassing one of the few groups of thermophilic fungi.

Podospora fibrinocaudata IMI 346680

Fungal strain IMI 346680 of Podospora fibrinocaudata was isolated from the dung of dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes), near the Crystal Springs Reservoir, in the South of San Francisco, California, USA. The species was initially described by Khan and Krug (1991). “Fibrinus” means “of beaver” and “cauda” means “tail”, referring to the shape of the lower cell of the ascospores which resembles a beaver tail.