This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Taylor, J. W. Articles by Berbee, M. L. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Taylor, J. W. Articles by Berbee, M. L. Agricola Articles by Taylor, J. W. Articles by Berbee, M. L.

Dating divergences in the Fungal Tree of Life: review and new analyses

     Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, 111 Koshland Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3102

Mary L. Berbee

     Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4 Canada

The collection of papers in this issue of Mycologia documents considerable improvements in taxon sampling and phylogenetic resolution regarding the Fungal Tree of Life. The new data will stimulate new attempts to date divergences and correlate events in fungal evolution with those of other organisms. Here, we review the history of dating fungal divergences by nucleic acid variation and then use a dataset of 50 genes for 25 selected fungi, plants and animals to investigate divergence times in kingdom Fungi. In particular, we test the choice of fossil calibration points on dating divergences in fungi. At the scale of our analysis, substitution rates varied without showing significant within-lineage correlation, so we used the Langley-Fitch method in the R8S package of computer programs to estimate node ages. Different calibration points had a dramatic effect on estimated divergence dates. The estimate for the age of the Ascomycota/Basidiomycota split was 1 808 000 000 y ago when calibrated assuming that mammals and birds diverged 300 000 000 y ago, 1 489 000 000 y ago when calibrated assuming that the 400 000 000 y old fungal fossil Paleopyrenomycites devonicus represents Sordariomycetes and ~400 000 000 y ago when calibrated assuming 206 000 000 y ago for the plant eudicot/monocot divergence. An advantage of a date of ~400 000 000 y ago for the Ascomycota/Basidiomycota divergence is that the radiation of fungi associated with land plants would not greatly precede the earliest land plant fossils. Acceptance of ~400 000 000 y ago for the Ascomycota /Basidiomycota split would require that P. devonicus be considered a deeply branching Ascomycota. To improve on current estimates of divergence times, mycologists will require calibration points from within groups of fungi that share similar substitution rates. The most useful calibration is likely to depend on the discovery and description of continuous records of fossil fungi, or their spores, that show recognizable shifts in morphology.

Key words: dating divergences, fossil fungi, molecular phylogeny

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. M. Guido, A. Channing, K. A. Campbell, and A. Zamuner Jurassic geothermal landscapes and fossil ecosystems at San Agustin, Patagonia, Argentina Journal of the Geological Society, January 1, 2010; 167(1): 11 - 20. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Lucking, S. Huhndorf, D. H. Pfister, E. R. Plata, and H. T. Lumbsch Fungi evolved right on track Mycologia, November 1, 2009; 101(6): 810 - 822. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Le Calvez, G. Burgaud, S. Mahe, G. Barbier, and P. Vandenkoornhuyse Fungal Diversity in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Ecosystems Appl. Envir. Microbiol., October 15, 2009; 75(20): 6415 - 6421. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Sharpton, J. E. Stajich, S. D. Rounsley, M. J. Gardner, J. R. Wortman, V. S. Jordar, R. Maiti, C. D. Kodira, D. E. Neafsey, Q. Zeng, et al. Comparative genomic analyses of the human fungal pathogens Coccidioides and their relatives Genome Res., October 1, 2009; 19(10): 1722 - 1731. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. J. Stollar, B. Garcia, P. A. Chong, A. Rath, H. Lin, J. D. Forman-Kay, and A. R. Davidson Structural, Functional, and Bioinformatic Studies Demonstrate the Crucial Role of an Extended Peptide Binding Site for the SH3 Domain of Yeast Abp1p J. Biol. Chem., September 25, 2009; 284(39): 26918 - 26927. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Wang, P. P. Raniga, S. Lane, Y. Lu, and H. Liu Hyphal Chain Formation in Candida albicans: Cdc28-Hgc1 Phosphorylation of Efg1 Represses Cell Separation Genes Mol. Cell. Biol., August 15, 2009; 29(16): 4406 - 4416. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Devier, G. Aguileta, M. E. Hood, and T. Giraud Ancient Trans-specific Polymorphism at Pheromone Receptor Genes in Basidiomycetes Genetics, January 1, 2009; 181(1): 209 - 223. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. B. Rosenblum, J. E. Stajich, N. Maddox, and M. B. Eisen Global gene expression profiles for life stages of the deadly amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis PNAS, November 4, 2008; 105(44): 17034 - 17039. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. J. Paukstelis and A. M. Lambowitz Identification and evolution of fungal mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases with group I intron splicing activity PNAS, April 22, 2008; 105(16): 6010 - 6015. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]