Adaptations of Pseudoxylaria towards a comb-associated lifestyle in fungus-farming termite colonies.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing ancient clades of fungal symbionts is necessary for understanding the evolutionary process underlying symbiosis development. In this study, we investigated a distinct subgeneric taxon of Xylaria (Xylariaceae), named Pseudoxylaria, whose members have solely been isolated from the fungus garden of farming termites. Pseudoxylaria are inconspicuously present in active fungus gardens of termite colonies and only emerge in the form of vegetative stromata, when the fungus comb is no longer attended ("sit and wait" strategy). Insights into the genomic and metabolic consequences of their association, however, have remained sparse. Capitalizing on viable Pseudoxylaria cultures from different termite colonies, we obtained genomes of seven and transcriptomes of two Pseudoxylaria isolate

SUBMITTER: Fricke J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10119272 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature