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Entries from May 2007
Melaninized fungi use ionizing radiation for energy
Posted on May 29th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · 2 Comments
Categories: bioremediation · extremophiles · melanin
Multiple Losses of sex within Microsporidia
Posted on May 27th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
A recent paper I found interesting (and I am sure was interesting to Dr Logsdon) about Multiple losses of sex within a single genus of Microsporidia. In the paper Joseph Ironside describes multiple instances of loss of sex within the Nosema/Vairimorpha group testing the hypothesis that the ancestral lineage was asexual.
Categories: evolution · fungi · genome reduction · microspordia · pathogens
More Euriotiomycete genomes
Posted on May 25th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
The genome sampling in the Eurotiomycota clade just keeps getting better. The new J. Crag Venter Institute (TIGR) deposited WGS Assemblies of the human pathogens Penicillium marneffei and Talaromyces stipitatus. P. marneffei is a thermally dimorphic fungus endemic to South-East Asia found in bamboo rats. It is studied by a number of
Categories: euriotiomycetes · filamentous · fungi · genome · news
Yeast genome: Known knowns, and known unknowns
Posted on May 20th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · 1 Comment
From Genetics this week a review discusses Why are there still 1000 Uncharacterized Yeast genes? Poor Yeast - so many more genes have no known function, while S. pombe has nearly 100% coverage in functional annotation. I'll also point out that the 1000 genes refers to protein-coding genes, not ncRNA genes which may mean that there is alot more that is unknown.
Categories: gene function · genome annotation · saccharomyces · yeast
Fungal tree of life papers
Posted on May 15th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
Lots of papers in Mycologia (subscription required) this month of different groups analyzing the fine-scale relationships of many different fungal clades using the loads of sequences that were generated as part of the Fungal Tree of Life project.
Categories: basidiomycota · chytridomycota · euriotiomycetes · fungi · glomeromycota · phylogenetics · s.pombe · saccharomyces · yeast · zygomycete
Clusters of genomes
Posted on May 14th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
As announced at the Fungal Genetics meeting, the FGI at the Broad Institute is focusing on clusters of genomes rather than single ones. Some of genome projects are already grouped.
- Coccidioides has 3 strains already plus the outgroup Uncinocarpus and conceivable one could include Histoplasma in there. This resources will grow to 14 strains (which comprise two species) of Coccidioides contributed by FGI and
Categories: aspergillus · cryptococcus · filamentous · fungi · fusarium · genome
Pyrenophora tritici-repentis
Posted on May 14th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
The genome of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, the fourth sequenced Dothideomycete genome, was released by the FGI at the Broad Institute this spring (March 2007). P. tiritici-repentis was sequenced for its role as the cause of tan spot on wheat and as a research model for other Pyrenophora sp. that are pathogens of several grasses.
The 6X assembly contains 37.8 Mb of sequence similar to the other Dothideomycetes
Categories: dothideomycetes · genome
Would a Beetle by another name smell as sweet?
Posted on May 13th, 2007 by Jason Stajich · No Comments
I read this blurb in the New Scientist about a PNAS paper (subscription required for next 6 months) on how hive beetles (Aethina tumida) are able to infest bee hives by throwing off the bees because they are producing isopentyl acetate which is thought to be produced and used by bees to signal an alarm.
Categories: co-evolution · fungi · honeybee · saccharomyces · symbiosis · yeast