Dating divergences in the Fungal Tree of Life: review and new analyses
- PMID: 17486961
- DOI: 10.3852/mycologia.98.6.838
Dating divergences in the Fungal Tree of Life: review and new analyses
Abstract
The collection of papers in this issue of Mycologia documents considerable improvements in taxon sampling and phylogenetic resolution regarding the Fungal Tree of Life. The new data will stimulate new attempts to date divergences and correlate events in fungal evolution with those of other organisms. Here, we review the history of dating fungal divergences by nucleic acid variation and then use a dataset of 50 genes for 25 selected fungi, plants and animals to investigate divergence times in kingdom Fungi. In particular, we test the choice of fossil calibration points on dating divergences in fungi. At the scale of our analysis, substitution rates varied without showing significant within-lineage correlation, so we used the Langley-Fitch method in the R8S package of computer programs to estimate node ages. Different calibration points had a dramatic effect on estimated divergence dates. The estimate for the age of the Ascomycota/Basidiomycota split was 1808000000 y ago when calibrated assuming that mammals and birds diverged 300000000 y ago, 1489000000 y ago when calibrated assuming that the 400000000 y old fungal fossil Paleopyrenomycites devonicus represents Sordariomycetes and approximately 400000000 y ago when calibrated assuming 206000000 y ago for the plant eudicot/monocot divergence. An advantage of a date of approximately 400000000 y ago for the Ascomycota/Basidiomycota divergence is that the radiation of fungi associated with land plants would not greatly precede the earliest land plant fossils. Acceptance of approximately 400000000 y ago for the Ascomycota/Basidiomycota split would require that P. devonicus be considered a deeply branching Ascomycota. To improve on current estimates of divergence times, mycologists will require calibration points from within groups of fungi that share similar substitution rates. The most useful calibration is likely to depend on the discovery and description of continuous records of fossil fungi, or their spores, that show recognizable shifts in morphology.
Similar articles
-
Fungi evolved right on track.Mycologia. 2009 Nov-Dec;101(6):810-22. doi: 10.3852/09-016. Mycologia. 2009. PMID: 19927746
-
Calibration choice, rate smoothing, and the pattern of tetrapod diversification according to the long nuclear gene RAG-1.Syst Biol. 2007 Aug;56(4):543-63. doi: 10.1080/10635150701477825. Syst Biol. 2007. PMID: 17654361
-
Molecular clock calibrations and metazoan divergence dates.J Mol Evol. 1999 Sep;49(3):385-91. doi: 10.1007/pl00006562. J Mol Evol. 1999. PMID: 10473780
-
Phylogeny and systematics of the fungi with special reference to the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.Chem Immunol. 2002;81:207-95. doi: 10.1159/000058868. Chem Immunol. 2002. PMID: 12102002 Review. No abstract available.
-
The Fungal Tree of Life: from Molecular Systematics to Genome-Scale Phylogenies.Microbiol Spectr. 2017 Sep;5(5):10.1128/microbiolspec.funk-0053-2016. doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0053-2016. Microbiol Spectr. 2017. PMID: 28917057 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
The Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex.Stud Mycol. 2012 Sep 15;73(1):115-80. doi: 10.3114/sim0011. Epub 2012 Aug 27. Stud Mycol. 2012. PMID: 23136459 Free PMC article.
-
Hidden Genetic Diversity in an Asexually Reproducing Lichen Forming Fungal Group.PLoS One. 2016 Aug 11;11(8):e0161031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161031. eCollection 2016. PLoS One. 2016. PMID: 27513649 Free PMC article.
-
Heterologous Hsp90 promotes phenotypic diversity through network evolution.PLoS Biol. 2018 Nov 15;16(11):e2006450. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006450. eCollection 2018 Nov. PLoS Biol. 2018. PMID: 30439936 Free PMC article.
-
Cryogenian Glacial Habitats as a Plant Terrestrialisation Cradle - The Origin of the Anydrophytes and Zygnematophyceae Split.Front Plant Sci. 2022 Jan 27;12:735020. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.735020. eCollection 2021. Front Plant Sci. 2022. PMID: 35154170 Free PMC article.
-
Phylogenetic and preliminary phenotypic analysis of yeast PAQR receptors: potential antifungal targets.J Mol Evol. 2011 Oct;73(3-4):134-52. doi: 10.1007/s00239-011-9462-3. Epub 2011 Oct 19. J Mol Evol. 2011. PMID: 22009226 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical