Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL)

Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL) reconstructs multilocus phylogenetic relationships among fungi to elucidate deep evolutionary relationships and inform supraordinal classification.

Key Features:

• Multilocus Phylogenetic Analysis: Employs Bayesian analyses across multiple loci, integrating nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA (nucSSU), large subunit ribosomal DNA (nucLSU), mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal DNA (mitSSU), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) sequences.
• Comprehensive Species Representation: Includes representatives from traditionally recognized fungal phyla such as Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, and Glomeromycota.
• Phylogenetic Confidence Assessment: Incorporates complementary bootstrap assessments to evaluate the confidence of inferred phylogenetic relationships.
• Resolution of Deep Relationships: Resolves multiple deep evolutionary relationships within Ascomycota and Basidiomycota that were previously unresolved or weakly supported.
• Impact on Classification Systems: Provides phylogenetic evidence with implications for reassessment of supraordinal taxonomic frameworks.
• Integration with Subcellular Data: Synthesizes knowledge on the evolution of septal features in fungal hyphae and presents preliminary assessments of ascomal evolution.

Scientific Applications:

• Phylogenetic Studies: Serves as a framework for multilocus phylogenetic investigations of fungal biodiversity and systematics.
• Taxonomic Revisions: Informs revision of fungal taxonomies to reflect newly inferred evolutionary relationships.
• Evolutionary Biology Research: Contributes data for studies of deep evolutionary relationships among eukaryotic fungi, particularly within Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.

Methodology:

Uses Bayesian inference and bootstrap assessments across multilocus datasets (nucSSU, nucLSU, mitSSU, RPB2) and integrates unpublished sequences with GenBank data.