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Evolution and Diversity of Bioluminescent Fungi

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Evolution of Fungi and Fungal-Like Organisms

Part of the book series: The Mycota ((MYCOTA,volume 14))

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Abstract

Bioluminescence is one of the most fascinating features of basidiomycetes. In this chapter, we have reviewed a total of 105 bioluminescent fungi that have been documented to date. We show that these species are restricted to three major lineages, including mycenoid, Armillaria, and Omphalotus, and display different bioluminescent patterns and geographical distributions. A global phylogeny shows that these species also exhibit patchy phylogenetic placement with their non-bioluminescent relatives. We review previous work on their genomes, which contain the fungal luciferin biosynthetic cluster. The dynamics of this cluster provide an evolutionary scenario since the last common ancestor of the family Mycenaceae and the marasmioid clade of Agaricales. Finally, we discuss potential functions and possible research directions of bioluminescence in these fungi.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Yu-Shen Shih and Hua-Te Fang for providing photos of bioluminescent fungi, and Eiji Hadano and Atsuko Hadano for specimen collection to validate the phylogenetic position of Marasmiellus lucidus and M. venosus. I.J.T was supported by Career Development Award AS-CDA-107-L01, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under Grant 110-2628-B-001-027.

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Correspondence to Huei-Mien Ke or Isheng Jason Tsai .

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Ke, HM. et al. (2023). Evolution and Diversity of Bioluminescent Fungi. In: Pöggeler, S., James, T. (eds) Evolution of Fungi and Fungal-Like Organisms. The Mycota, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29199-9_12

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