Novel soil-inhabiting clades fill gaps in the fungal tree of life.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fungi are a diverse eukaryotic group of degraders, pathogens, and symbionts, with many lineages known only from DNA sequences in soil, sediments, air, and water.

Results

We provide rough phylogenetic placement and principal niche analysis for >40 previously unrecognized fungal groups at the order and class level from global soil samples based on combined 18S (nSSU) and 28S (nLSU) rRNA gene sequences. Especially, Rozellomycota (Cryptomycota), Zygomycota s.lat, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota are rich in novel fungal lineages, most of which exhibit distinct preferences for climate and soil pH.

Conclusions

This study uncovers the great phylogenetic richness of previously unrecognized order- to phylum-level fungal lineages. Most of these rare groups are distribut

SUBMITTER: Tedersoo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5385062 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature