Mixia osmundae (Basidiomycota, Pucciniomycotina) represents a monotypic class containing
an unusual fern pathogen with incompletely understood biology. We sequenced and analyzed
the genome of M. osmundae, focusing on genes that may provide some insight into its
mode of pathogenicity and reproductive biology.
Mixia osmundae has the smallest plant pathogenic basidiomycete...
As decomposers, fungi are key players in recycling plant material in global carbon cycles. We hypothesized that genomes of early diverging fungi may have inherited pectinases from an ancestral species that had been able to extract nutrients from pectin-containing land plants and their algal allies (Streptophytes). We aimed to infer,...