4.8 Article

Large differences in carbohydrate degradation and transport potential among lichen fungal symbionts

Journal

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30218-6

Keywords

-

Funding

  1. Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P25237]
  2. Theodor Korner Funds (Vienna, Austria)
  3. Network of Biological Systematics Austria (NOBIS
  4. Vienna, Austria)
  5. Icelandic Research Fund IRF [174307051]
  6. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG [WE 6443/1-1]
  7. LMU Munich
  8. Swedish Research Council [VR 2016-03589]
  9. NRM Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics
  10. National Genomics Infrastructure in Stockholm
  11. SNIC/Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science
  12. UPPMAX
  13. NSERC
  14. Swedish Research Council [2016-03589] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council
  15. Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P25237] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Contrary to other fungal symbioses, lichen fungal symbionts do not lose enzymes for plant cell-wall degradation when associated with a phototroph.
Lichen symbioses are thought to be stabilized by the transfer of fixed carbon from a photosynthesizing symbiont to a fungus. In other fungal symbioses, carbohydrate subsidies correlate with reductions in plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, but whether this is true of lichen fungal symbionts (LFSs) is unknown. Here, we predict genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and sugar transporters in 46 genomes from the Lecanoromycetes, the largest extant clade of LFSs. All LFSs possess a robust CAZyme arsenal including enzymes acting on cellulose and hemicellulose, confirmed by experimental assays. However, the number of genes and predicted functions of CAZymes vary widely, with some fungal symbionts possessing arsenals on par with well-known saprotrophic fungi. These results suggest that stable fungal association with a phototroph does not in itself result in fungal CAZyme loss, and lends support to long-standing hypotheses that some lichens may augment fixed CO2 with carbon from external sources. Lichen symbioses are thought to be stabilized by the transfer of fixed carbon from a photosynthesizing symbiont to a fungus. Here, Resl et al. show that, contrary to other fungal symbioses, fungal association with a phototroph in lichens does not result in loss of fungal enzymes for plant cell-wall degradation.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available