Genome-based estimates of fungal rDNA copy number variation across phylogenetic scales and ecological lifestyles

Authors

Lotus A. Lofgren, Jessie K. Uehling, Sara Branco, Thomas D. Bruns, Francis Martin, Peter G. Kennedy

Publication

Molecular Ecology

Abstract

Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) copy number variation (CNV) has major physiological implications for all organisms, but how it varies for fungi, an ecologically ubiquitous and important group of microorganisms, has yet to be systemically investigated. Here, we examine rDNA CNV using an in silico read depth approach for 91 fungal taxa with sequenced genomes and assess copy number conservation across phylogenetic scales and ecological lifestyles. rDNA copy number varied considerably across fungi, ranging from an estimated 14 to 1,442 copies (mean = 113, median = 82), and copy number similarity was inversely correlated with phylogenetic distance. No correlations were found between rDNA CNV and fungal trophic mode, ecological guild or genome size. Taken together, these results show that like other microorganisms, fungi exhibit substantial variation in rDNA copy number, which is linked to their phylogeny in a scale?dependent manner.

Links

 

How is this information collected?

This collection of Montana State authored publications is collected by the Library to highlight the achievements of Montana State researchers and more fully understand the research output of the University. They use a number of resources to pull together as complete a list as possible and understand that there may be publications that are missed. If you note the omission of a current publication or want to know more about the collection and display of this information email Leila Sterman.