Sequencing the Genomes of the First Terrestrial Fungal Lineages: What Have We Learned?

The first genome sequenced of a eukaryotic organism was for , as reported in 1996, but it was more than 10 years before any of the zygomycete fungi, which are the early-diverging terrestrial fungi currently placed in the phyla and , were sequenced. The genome for was completed in 2008; currently, more than 1000 zygomycete genomes have been sequenced. Genomic data from these early-diverging terrestrial fungi revealed deep phylogenetic separation of the two major clades-primarily plant-associated saprotrophic and mycorrhizal versus the primarily mycoparasitic or animal-associated parasites and commensals in the .

Phylogenetic and Phylogenomic Definition of Species.

Phylogenomic approaches have the potential to improve confidence about the inter-relationships of species in the order Mucorales within the fungal tree of life. species are especially important as plant and animal pathogens and bioindustrial fermenters for food and metabolite production. A dataset of 192 orthologous genes was used to construct a phylogenetic tree of 21 strains, classified into four species isolated from habitats of industrial, medical and environmental importance.