Spinellus fusiger CBS 515.75 (= NRRL 22323) was originally isolated parasitizing the mushroom Mycena galericulata in Putten, the Netherlands. The six species within this zygomycetous genus (http://www.mycobank.org/) are all thought to be facultative parasites of mushrooms (Fig. 1, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinellus_fusiger). Members of this psychrotolerant genus grow well at 15◦C and they are currently classified in the monophyletic family Phycomycetaceae within the Mucorales (O’Donnell et al. 2000; Walters et al. 2013). During the asexual reproductive phase, S. fusiger produces multispored sporangia on unbranched sporangiophores that can reach several centimeters in length (Figs. 1-2). At maturity, the sporangial wall breaks down allowing the fusiform sporangiospores to be passively dispersed (Fig. 3). Spinellus fusiger is self-fertile or homothallic and the sexual reproductive phase of its life cycle is characterized by the formation of ornamented zygospores between opposed suspensors. The whole-genome sequence of S. fusiger supports the 1000 Fungal Genome Project, which is focused on elucidating the evolution of early diverging fungal lineages.
References:
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