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The Macroevolution of Filamentation Morphology Across the Saccharomycotina Yeast Subphylum

Journal Article · · FEMS Yeast Research
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Vanderbilt University Department of Biological Sciences, , Nashville, TN 37235 ,; Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, TN 37235 ,
  2. Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute , 3584 Utrecht ,
  3. Laboratory of Genetics, DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J.F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, University of Wisconsin-Madison , WI 53726 ,

Abstract Saccharomycotina are a subphylum of ascomycete fungi with diverse asexual growth morphologies. Filamentous growth can comprise linear and branched budding cells that do not undergo cell separation, termed pseudohyphae, or tubular filaments with septa that perforate allowing movement of organelles, termed true hyphae. We integrated phenotypic, genomic, metabolic, and environmental data on isolation sources from 1 051 species to examine the variation and evolutionary history of filamentation across Saccharomycotina and determine whether these data could predict filamentation types. We found that 63.37% of strains can form filaments; 6.56% true hyphae, 42.40% pseudohyphae, and 14.39% both true hyphae and pseudohyphae. The distributions of species that can produce true hyphae or filament were more strongly correlated with the yeast phylogeny than the distribution of species with pseudohyphae. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested that true hyphal and pseudohyphal morphologies evolved several times, that most yeast ancestors likely produced pseudohyphae or lacked filaments, and that the Saccharomycotina last common ancestor likely produced pseudohyphae but not true hyphae. Machine learning models trained on genomic and metabolic features predicted filament morphologies with ∼70% accuracy. Connecting the evolution of morphologies to their genomic, physiological, and ecological characteristics will enrich our understanding of how the diversity of lifestyles evolved in Saccharomycotina.

Research Organization:
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) (GLBRC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018409
OSTI ID:
3013686
Journal Information:
FEMS Yeast Research, Journal Name: FEMS Yeast Research; ISSN 1567-1356; ISSN 1567-1364
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (OUP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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