The Fungal Tree of Life: fromMolecular Systematics toGenome-Scale Phylogenies

摘要

The kingdom Fungi is one of the more diverseclades of eukaryotes in terrestrial ecosystems, where theyprovide numerous ecological services ranging fromdecomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling tobeneficial and antagonistic associations with plants andanimals. The evolutionary relationships of the kingdomhave represented some of the more recalcitrant problemsin systematics and phylogenetics. The advent of molecularphylogenetics, and more recently phylogenomics, has greatlyadvanced our understanding of the patterns and processesassociated with fungal evolution, however. In this article,we review the major phyla, subphyla, and classes of thekingdom Fungi and provide brief summaries of ecologies,morphologies, and exemplar taxa. We also provide examplesof how molecular phylogenetics and evolutionary genomicshave advanced our understanding of fungal evolutionwithin each of the phyla and some of the major classes.In the current classification we recognize 8 phyla, 12 subphyla,and 46 classes within the kingdom. The ancestor of fungiis inferred to be zoosporic, and zoosporic fungi comprisethree lineages that are paraphyletic to the remainder of fungi.Fungi historically classified as zygomycetes do not form amonophyletic group and are paraphyletic to Ascomycotaand Basidiomycota. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota areeach monophyletic and collectively form the subkingdomDikarya.