<i>Mycena</i> genomes resolve the evolution of fungal bioluminescence
Huei‐Mien Ke, Hsin‐Han Lee, Chan‐Yi Ivy Lin, Yu‐Ching Liu, Min Lu, Jo‐Wei Allison Hsieh, Chiung‐Chih Chang, Pei‐Hsuan Wu, Mei‐Yeh Jade Lu, Jeng-Yi Li, Gaus Shang, Rita Jui-Hsien Lu, László G. Nagy, Pao‐Yang Chen, Hsiao‐Wei Kao, Isheng Jason Tsai
Abstract
Significance We present the genomes of five new bonnet mushroom Mycena species, formerly the last fungal bioluminescent lineage lacking reference genomes. These genome-scale datasets allowed us to construct an evolutionary model pinpointing all possible changes in the luciferase cluster across all fungi and additional genes involved in bioluminescence. We show that luciferase clusters were differentially lost in different fungal lineages and in particular a substantial loss was observed in the mycenoid lineage. This can be attributed to genome regions of Mycena that underwent different evolutionary dynamics. Our findings offer insights into the evolution of how a gene cluster emerged 160 million years ago and was frequently lost or maintained due to differences in genome plasticity.