Fungal taxonomy: current status and research agendas for the interdisciplinary and globalisation era

Abstract

Fungal taxonomy is a fundamental discipline that aims to recognise all fungi and their kinships. Approximately 5% of a practical estimate of 2.2-3.8 million species globally are currently known, and consequently the Fungal Tree of Life (FTOL) is very incompletely reconstructed. With the advances of new technologies, mycology is marching into the interdisciplinary and globalisation era. To make fungal taxonomy relevant, innovative sampling methods and phylogenomics analyses should be performed to reconstruct a much more comprehensive FTOL. In association with this densely sampled FTOL, multiomics will reveal what drives fungal species diversification and how fungal traits evolve to adapt to various environments, while metagenomics will facilitate the understanding and protection of the ecological functions of fungi. A coordinated approach to pursuing these research agendas that includes conceiving of and costing a mission to describe all the fungi on the planet will unlock potential of fungi to support sustainable development of our society.

Keywords: Coordination; ecology and conservation; evolutionary biology; fungal resources; fungal tree of life.

Figure 1.

Schematic illustration of a coordinated approach to research agendas for mycologists. Fungal taxonomy aims to reconstruct the fungal tree of life (FTOL) by documenting the approximately 95% of unknown species (branches in black) and exploring their relationships to the approximately 5% of currently known species (branches in red) via phylogenomics. A more complete FTOL will underpin advances in knowledge of fungal evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation, which can support sustainable development of our society from various perspectives.