Evolution of Fungi and Fungal-Like Organisms

Stefanie Pöggeler (born 1963) studied Biology at the Ruhr-Universität in Bochum (Germany). In 1993, she graduated with a thesis on intron-encoded polypeptides in plastids and mitochondria under the supervision of Prof. Ulrich Kück. She later on completed her “Habilitation” at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in 2000 and was awarded the Venia Legendi in Botany. Between 2001 and 2003 she had a stand-in assistant professorship in Botany at the Wilhelms Universität in Münster (Germany). In 2006 she was appointed as professor for Genetics of Eukaryotic Microorganisms at the Georg-August Universität Göttingen (Germany).Her work is focused on the analysis of mating type genes and autophagy in sexual development of filamentous ascomycetes. In a second line of research, she is interested in the evolution of fungal inteins.Timothy Y. James (born 1973) studied Biology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina (United States of America) in thelab of Prof. Rytas Vilgalys. He graduate in 2003 with a thesis on the evolution of mating-type genes in mushroom forming fungi. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Duke University, Uppsala University (Sweden), and McMaster University (Canada) before starting as an assistant professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan (U.S.A.). He is the Curator of Fungi at the University of Michigan Fungarium (MICH) and is the Lewis E. Wehmeyer and Elaine Prince Wehmeyer Chair in Fungal Taxonomy. His work is focused on resolving the fungal tree of life, in particular discovering the hidden phylogenetic diversity of the tree by analysis of zoosporic and unculturable lineages of fungi. He is also interested in the evolution of ploidy and mitotic recombination.

“This is essentially a new book in the same broad subject area … and they have been thoroughly revised and have different authorships. … I have concentrated here on chapters which I found of particular interest myself … . The Editors are to be congratulated on putting such a great selection of topics together!” (Hawksworth, IMA Fungus, February 5, 2024)“The fourth edition has swelled by a rather modest 126 pages, but what really makes it stand out is that many of the photographs of Petri-dish cultures are now in colour—a most useful addition. ... The book will … remain as a treasured testimony to the work of a most remarkable man who devoted most of his life to improving our understanding of food spoilage issues involving fungi, and particularly the characterization of the species involved.” (IMA Fungus, Issue 2, February 5, 2024)

• Part I. Evolutionary Roots of Fungi.- Chapter 1. The Protistan Origins of Animals and Fungi.- Chapter 2. Evolution of Signalling and Morphogenesis in the Dictyostelids.- Chapter 3. The Evolution of Mitochondrial Genomes in Fungi.- Part II. Evolution of Pathogenic Strategies.- Chapter 4. Dimorphism and Pathogenesis in Mucor Species.- Chapter 5. Genome Evolution in Fungal Plant Pathogens: From Populations to Kingdom-Wide Dynamics.- Chapter 6. Host Switching and Geographic Expansions in (Hemi) Biotrophic Plant Pathogens.- Part III. Evolution of Mutualistic Interactions.- Chapter 7. Mycoviruses.- Chapter 8. Bacterial Endosymbionts of Mucoromycota Fungi: Diversity and Function of Their Interactions.- Chapter 9. Fungi and Their Environmental Micropredators.- Chapter 10. Global Fungal Diversity Estimated from High-Throughput Sequencing.- Part IV. Evolution of Metabolism and Development.- Chapter 11. Activation of Secondary Metabolite Production in Fungi.-Chapter 12. Evolution and Diversity of Bioluminescent Fungi.- Chapter 13. Paedomorphosis and Sequestrate Basidiomycete.