A light-sensing system in the common ancestor of the fungi
Luis Javier Galindo, David S. Milner, Suely Lopes Gomes, Thomas A. Richards
Abstract
) and performed fluorescence-microscopy imaging of four CyclOp-carrying zoosporic fungal species, showing the presence of a variety of candidate eyespot-cytoskeletal ultrastructure systems. We then assessed the presence of canonical photoreceptors across the fungi and inferred that the last common fungal ancestor was able to sense light across a range of wavelengths using a variety of systems, including blue-green-light detection. Our data imply, independently of how the fungal tree of life is rooted, that the apparatus for a CyclOp-organelle light perception system was an ancestral feature of the fungi.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyEyespotOrganelleChytridiomycotaZoosporeTransmembrane domainCell biologyGeneGeneticsBotanyAscomycotaSporePhotoreceptor and optogenetics researchProtist diversity and phylogenyPlant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies