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Author

Damien Ertz

Bio: Damien Ertz is an academic researcher from Botanic Garden Meise. The author has contributed to research in topics: Arthoniales & Genus. The author has an hindex of 33, co-authored 147 publications receiving 5429 citations. Previous affiliations of Damien Ertz include University of Liège & University of Connecticut.
Topics: Arthoniales, Genus, Roccellaceae, Lichen, Arthoniaceae


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study provides a phylogenetic synthesis for the Fungi and a framework for future phylogenetic studies on fungi and the impact of this newly discovered phylogenetic structure on supraordinal classifications is discussed.
Abstract: Based on an overview of progress in molecular systematics of the true fungi (Fungi/Eumycota) since 1990, little overlap was found among single-locus data matrices, which explains why no large-scale multilocus phylogenetic analysis had been undertaken to reveal deep relationships among fungi. As part of the project ‘‘Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life’’ (AFTOL), results of four Bayesian analyses are reported with complementary bootstrap assessment of phylogenetic confidence based on (1) a combined two-locus data set (nucSSU and nucLSU rDNA) with 558 species representing all traditionally recognized fungal phyla (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota) and the Glomeromycota, (2) a combined three-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU, and mitSSU rDNA) with 236 species, (3) a combined three-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU rDNA, and RPB2) with 157 species, and (4) a combined four-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU, mitSSU rDNA, and RPB2) with 103 species. Because of the lack of complementarity among single-locus data sets, the last three analyses included only members of the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The four-locus analysis resolved multiple deep relationships within the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota that were not revealed previously or that received only weak support in previous studies. The impact of this newly discovered phylogenetic structure on supraordinal classifications is discussed. Based on these results and reanalysis of subcellular data, current knowledge of the evolution of septal features of fungal hyphae is synthesized, and a preliminary reassessment of ascomal evolution is presented. Based on previously unpublished data and sequences from GenBank, this study provides a phylogenetic synthesis for the Fungi and a framework for future phylogenetic studies on fungi.

754 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A 6-gene, 420-species maximum-likelihood phylogeny of Ascomycota, the largest phylum of Fungi, and a phylogenetic informativeness analysis of all 6 genes and a series of ancestral character state reconstructions support a terrestrial, saprobic ecology as ancestral are presented.
Abstract: We present a 6-gene, 420-species maximum-likelihood phylogeny of Ascomycota, the largest phylum of Fungi. This analysis is the most taxonomically complete to date with species sampled from all 15 currently circumscribed classes. A number of superclass-level nodes that have previously evaded resolution and were unnamed in classifications of the Fungi are resolved for the first time. Based on the 6-gene phylogeny we conducted a phylogenetic informativeness analysis of all 6 genes and a series of ancestral character state reconstructions that focused on morphology of sporocarps, ascus dehiscence, and evolution of nutritional modes and ecologies. A gene-by-gene assessment of phylogenetic informativeness yielded higher levels of informativeness for protein genes (RPB1, RPB2, and TEF1) as compared with the ribosomal genes, which have been the standard bearer in fungal systematics. Our reconstruction of sporocarp characters is consistent with 2 origins for multicellular sexual reproductive structures in Ascomycota, once in the common ancestor of Pezizomycotina and once in the common ancestor of Neolectomycetes. This first report of dual origins of ascomycete sporocarps highlights the complicated nature of assessing homology of morphological traits across Fungi. Furthermore, ancestral reconstruction supports an open sporocarp with an exposed hymenium (apothecium) as the primitive morphology for Pezizomycotina with multiple derivations of the partially (perithecia) or completely enclosed (cleistothecia) sporocarps. Ascus dehiscence is most informative at the class level within Pezizomycotina with most superclass nodes reconstructed equivocally. Character-state reconstructions support a terrestrial, saprobic ecology as ancestral. In contrast to previous studies, these analyses support multiple origins of lichenization events with the loss of lichenization as less frequent and limited to terminal, closely related species.

592 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present paper introduces the FoF database to the scientific community and briefly reviews some of the problems associated with classification and identification of the main fungal groups.
Abstract: Taxonomic names are key links between various databases that store information on different organisms. Several global fungal nomenclural and taxonomic databases (notably Index Fungorum, Species Fungorum and MycoBank) can be sourced to find taxonomic details about fungi, while DNA sequence data can be sourced from NCBI, EBI and UNITE databases. Although the sequence data may be linked to a name, the quality of the metadata is variable and generally there is no corresponding link to images, descriptions or herbarium material. There is generally no way to establish the accuracy of the names in these genomic databases, other than whether the submission is from a reputable source. To tackle this problem, a new database (FacesofFungi), accessible at www.facesoffungi.org (FoF) has been established. This fungal database allows deposition of taxonomic data, phenotypic details and other useful data, which will enhance our current taxonomic understanding and ultimately enable mycologists to gain better and updated insights into the current fungal classification system. In addition, the database will also allow access to comprehensive metadata including descriptions of voucher and type specimens. This database is user-friendly, providing links and easy access between taxonomic ranks, with the classification system based primarily on molecular data (from the literature and via updated web-based phylogenetic trees), and to a lesser extent on morphological data when molecular data are unavailable. In FoF species are not only linked to the closest phylogenetic representatives, but also relevant data is provided, wherever available, on various applied aspects, such as ecological, industrial, quarantine and chemical uses. The data include the three main fungal groups (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Basal fungi) and fungus-like organisms. The FoF webpage is an output funded by the Mushroom Research Foundation which is an NGO with seven directors with mycological expertise. The webpage has 76 curators, and with the help of these specialists, FoF will provide an updated natural classification of the fungi, with illustrated accounts of species linked to molecular data. The present paper introduces the FoF database to the scientific community and briefly reviews some of the problems associated with classification and identification of the main fungal groups. The structure and use of the database is then explained. We would like to invite all mycologists to contribute to these web pages.

458 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article provides an outline of the classification of the kingdom Fungi (including fossil fungi), and treats 19 phyla of fungi, including all currently described orders of fungi.
Abstract: This article provides an outline of the classification of the kingdom Fungi (including fossil fungi. i.e. dispersed spores, mycelia, sporophores, mycorrhizas). We treat 19 phyla of fungi. These are Aphelidiomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Entorrhizomycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota. The placement of all fungal genera is provided at the class-, order- and family-level. The described number of species per genus is also given. Notes are provided of taxa for which recent changes or disagreements have been presented. Fungus-like taxa that were traditionally treated as fungi are also incorporated in this outline (i.e. Eumycetozoa, Dictyosteliomycetes, Ceratiomyxomycetes and Myxomycetes). Four new taxa are introduced: Amblyosporida ord. nov. Neopereziida ord. nov. and Ovavesiculida ord. nov. in Rozellomycota, and Protosporangiaceae fam. nov. in Dictyosteliomycetes. Two different classifications (in outline section and in discussion) are provided for Glomeromycota and Leotiomycetes based on recent studies. The phylogenetic reconstruction of a four-gene dataset (18S and 28S rRNA, RPB1, RPB2) of 433 taxa is presented, including all currently described orders of fungi.

381 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phylogenies confirm that ascus morphology cannot be applied consistently to shape the classification of lichen-forming fungi and conclude that a phylogenetic synthesis for a chosen taxonomic group should include a comprehensive assessment of phylogenetic confidence based on multiple estimates using different methods and on a progressive taxon sampling with an increasing number of taxa, even if it involves an increasing amount of missing data.
Abstract: The Lecanoromycetes includes most of the lichen-forming fungal species (>13 500) and is therefore one of the most diverse class of all Fungi in terms of phenotypic complexity. We report phylogeneti...

264 citations


Cited by
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01 Jun 2012
TL;DR: SPAdes as mentioned in this paper is a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data).
Abstract: The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.

10,124 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Among the regions of the ribosomal cistron, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has the highest probability of successful identification for the broadest range of fungi, with the most clearly defined barcode gap between inter- and intraspecific variation.
Abstract: Six DNA regions were evaluated as potential DNA barcodes for Fungi, the second largest kingdom of eukaryotic life, by a multinational, multilaboratory consortium. The region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 used as the animal barcode was excluded as a potential marker, because it is difficult to amplify in fungi, often includes large introns, and can be insufficiently variable. Three subunits from the nuclear ribosomal RNA cistron were compared together with regions of three representative protein-coding genes (largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and minichromosome maintenance protein). Although the protein-coding gene regions often had a higher percent of correct identification compared with ribosomal markers, low PCR amplification and sequencing success eliminated them as candidates for a universal fungal barcode. Among the regions of the ribosomal cistron, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has the highest probability of successful identification for the broadest range of fungi, with the most clearly defined barcode gap between inter- and intraspecific variation. The nuclear ribosomal large subunit, a popular phylogenetic marker in certain groups, had superior species resolution in some taxonomic groups, such as the early diverging lineages and the ascomycete yeasts, but was otherwise slightly inferior to the ITS. The nuclear ribosomal small subunit has poor species-level resolution in fungi. ITS will be formally proposed for adoption as the primary fungal barcode marker to the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, with the possibility that supplementary barcodes may be developed for particular narrowly circumscribed taxonomic groups.

4,116 citations

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3,734 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that NC-endophytes represent three distinct functional groups based on host colonization and transmission, in planta biodiversity and fitness benefits conferred to hosts, and key questions for future work in endophyte biology are highlighted.
Abstract: Summary 1 Summary All plants in natural ecosystems appear to be symbiotic with fungal endophytes. This highly diverse group of fungi can have profound impacts on plant communities through increasing fitness by conferring abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, increasing biomass and decreasing water consumption, or decreasing fitness by altering resource allocation. Despite more than 100 yr of research resulting in thousands of journal articles, the ecological significance of these fungi remains poorly characterized. Historically, two endophytic groups (clavicipitaceous (C) and nonclavicipitaceous (NC)) have been discriminated based on phylogeny and life history traits. Here, we show that NC-endophytes represent three distinct functional groups based on host colonization and transmission, in planta biodiversity and fitness benefits conferred to hosts. Using this framework, we contrast the life histories, interactions with hosts and potential roles in plant ecophysiology of C- and NC-endophytes, and highlight several key questions for future work in endophyte biology.

2,278 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A comprehensive phylogenetic classification of the kingdom Fungi is proposed, with reference to recent molecular phylogenetic analyses, and with input from diverse members of the fungal taxonomic community.

2,096 citations