In a recently published study in Science, researchers at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University show that fungi, just like humans, separate their germ cells early in their development. These new and unexpected findings change our understanding of how evolution works among fungi.
Markus Hiltunen Thorén and his colleagues in Professor Hanna Johannesson’s research group have used the growth pattern of the Scotch bonnet fungus, Marasmius oreades, which forms so-called “fairy rings” in lawns, to study the rise and fate of new mutations over growth.
“The results, which show that fungi separate their germ cells early in development, affect our understanding of how genetic variation is created and inherited in fungal populations. This is an important piece of the puzzle in mapping how evolution works,” says Hanna Johannesson, Bergianus Professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The research group will now continue to investigate how the cell differentiation works and whether it also takes place in other types of fungi.
Link to article in Science: Early germline sequestration in a basidiomycete fungus av Hiltunen Thorén et al.
