Got Nature? Blog

Photo: Tom Campbell

Mushrooms are strange forms of life. Some can kill you within hours, some are psychedelic hallucinogens and others are just good on a pizza. There are estimated to be six to 20 times more species of fungi than plants, and a lot of them are still shrouded in mystery. Since the time of Carl Linnaeus in the 1700s, we have been searching for answers in the fungi kingdom, and recently, we just found a big one in the shape of an evolutionary mapping dubbed the “tree of life.”

Using collections of preserved fungal specimens called fungaria from Purdue’s Arthur Fungarium and Kew’s Fungarium in the Royal Botanic Gardens, two of the biggest and most important fungi collections in the world, mycologists like Catherine Aime were able to study well over 100 years’ worth of preserved specimens and apply modern DNA technology to piece together genomes and discover new connections linking mushroom species. This “tree of life” is the clearest and most comprehensive mapping to date of the evolutionary history of fungi.

Aime says that this study reinforces the importance of fungaria as we advance in the genomic age. These extensive collections are priceless, containing specimens as far back as some from Darwin himself, and documenting hundreds of thousands of species throughout the years. Some of these species might not exist in the future, and it is essential that we document and preserve them as we learn new ways to use them in the future.

The research paper documenting this ‘tree of life’ was published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society​ and is available for journal subscribers and readers at Purdue.

Read the full article.

Resources
DNA Samples From Purdue, Kew Fungi Collections Provide Key to Mushroom ‘Tree of Life’, Purdue Extension
Arthur Fungarium, Purdue Herbaria
Kew’s Fungarium, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
Aime Lab, Purdue University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Fungi – In a Kingdom All By Themselves, Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Natalie van Hoose, Research News Writer
Purdue Extension​