A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiitake genus Lentinula

The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of US (PNAS) recently published a global phylogenomic analysis of the fungal genus Lentinula, which includes one of the edible mushrooms (shiitake) with the highest consumption worldwide. This work is the result of an international collaboration of twenty research groups from Universities and Institutes of nine different countries, with the participation of the Biotechnology for Lignocellulosic Biomass group at the Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research (CSIC).

In this study, 84 genomes from specimens collected from 15 countries on four continents were sequenced by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) and others. After assembly, analyses at the phylogenetic, population structure, pangenomic and gene levels, and evaluation of gene flow among the different Lentinula lineages, have provided important clues on the evolution and the biosynthetic and degradative abilities of a group of fungi with high economic relevance.

The six authors from the CIB-CSIC, Juan Carro, Gonzalo Molpeceres, Ana Serrano, Susana Camarero, Francisco J. Ruiz-Dueñas and Ángel T. Martínez, have significantly contributed to the study by analyzing the distribution and evolution of genes of oxidative enzymes (peroxidases, laccases, glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase, and copper radical oxidases) conferring to these organisms the ability to degrade lignin of plant cell walls and enabling, therefore, their growth and cultivation on lignocellulosic substrates. The results determined that the genomes of Lentinula have a set of enzymes similar to those of other Agaricales fungi able to degrade this aromatic polymer and that the evolution of the main ligninolytic enzymes (peroxidases and laccases), in general, paralleled the evolution of the species of this genus.

The studies carried out at the CIB for this work, and similar studies performed with other plant biomass-degrading fungi, are crucial to understanding the ability of these organisms to colonize a wide variety of habitats and degrade different types of lignocellulosic materials, including wood, forest litter, and grass litter.

Reference: A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiitake genus Lentinula. Sean Sierra-Patev, Byoungnam Min, Miguel Naranjo-Ortiz, +35, and David Hibbett (2023) PNAS, 120 (10) e2214076120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2214076120