skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The plant cell wall decomposing machinery underlies the functional diversity of forest fungi

Journal Article · · Science

Brown rot decay removes cellulose and hemicellulose from wood?residual lignin contributing up to 30percent of forest soil carbon?and is derived from an ancestral white rot saprotrophy in which both lignin and cellulose are decomposed. Comparative and functional genomics of the ?dry rot? fungus Serpula lacrymans, derived from forest ancestors, demonstrated that the evolution of both ectomycorrhizal biotrophy and brown rot saprotrophy were accompanied by reductions and losses in specific protein families, suggesting adaptation to an intercellular interaction with plant tissue. Transcriptome and proteome analysis also identified differences in wood decomposition in S. lacrymans relative to the brown rot Postia placenta. Furthermore, fungal nutritional mode diversification suggests that the boreal forest biome originated via genetic coevolution of above- and below-ground biota

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1165478
Report Number(s):
LBNL-6800E
Journal Information:
Science, Vol. 333, Issue 6043; ISSN 0036--8075
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English