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How Old are the Fungi?
Mycological Research News Growth and development of entomopathogenic Alternaria alternata has been examined and appressorial formation followed by scanning electron microscopy ; appressoria form directly on glass as well as all parts of the host insect cuticle (pp. 1340–1359). Studies of coprophilous fungi often identify the origin of the dung samples, rarely consider the effects of habitat on the mycobiota on samples from the same animal. In the case of moose dung, however, significant differences were found on dung from three different habitats in Sweden which appeared to be related to the extent of
1250 insect attack ; in all, 26 species were found of which 17 had not previously reported from moose droppings (pp. 1360–1366). Finally, the location of water within two lichens with different growth forms occurring as part of soil crusts has been examined by low temperature scanning electron microscopy ; hydrophobic features are illustrated and calcium oxalate or soil minerals were found to facilitate water retention – explaining the results of earlier water infiltration studies and emphasizing the importance of the lichen\substratum iunterface (pp. 1367–1374).
DOI : 10.1017\S095375620222691X
NEW BMS WEBSITE IN ACTION The British Mycological Society’s new official website is at http :\\www.britmycolsoc.org.uk. The site changed almost daily during August and early September 2002 as the first phase of its development was completed. At the beginning of the year the structure of the site was changed drastically as a Dynamic Content Management System was installed. The software underlying this is a database, the content of which is accessible to and changeable by the BMS Webmaster. Mostly during August 2002, we created ‘ ’ and added some 120 pages of BMS documentation. We’ve also added around 200 external links ; each of which has been verified and a descriptive paragraph composed prior to addition to the site. The site now has so much content that it’s well worth checking out. You will find that the main pages of the site give details about the different aspects of the Society’s activities. The biggest changes are in the section headed ‘ ’. Here you will find most of the documentation and most of the links. Not yet ‘ everything ’, but a hunge range from application forms, books, candidiasis and Doctor Fungus, to Verticillium,
West Weald, and yeast genomes. If you’re looking for something, head for ‘ ’ first. ‘ Appointments and Studentships Vacant ’ is a new section in which we can place advertisements for jobs and scholarships. It’s free (at the moment), so why not send your adverts to the Webmaster ? The section includes a note what to send and how to send it. Mycolegium, Royall T. Moore’s website on fungal biology, formed the foundation for a lot of the material which has now been added to the current BMS website. The Society owes a great debt to Roy who singlehandedly pioneered the creation of a BMS ‘ web presence ’ and has also provided many pages of content for the new BMS website.
David Moore BMS Webmaster School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 1.800 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. E-mail : webmaster David Moore!britmycolsoc.org.uk
DOI : 10.1017\S0953756202236916
HOW OLD ARE THE FUNGI ? The dating of the early evolutionary history of fungi has remained uncertain with a scant fossil record and discrepancies between fossil data and molecular clock extrapolations based on DNA sequence data (Mycological Research News, Mycological Research 104(1) : 4, January 2000). Now Heckman et al. (2001) have approached the problem by analyzing amino acid sequences of potentially orthologous groups of fungi deposited in GenBank. They then used molecular clock methods to estimate the dates of origin and divergence of different fungal lineages. This revealed that the main fungal groups diverged way back in the Precambrian, 1458–966 Myr ago, significantly older than the estimates of 660–370 Myr for the same splits based on SSU nuclear rDNA sequences. ‘ One of the first steps toward the colonization of land by eukaryotes may have been
the formation of a lichen symbiosis, perhaps an endosymbiosis of a fungus and a unicellular cyanobacterium ’ around 900–544 Myr or even earlier. Land plants are estimated to have arisen around 700 Myr ago. The earlier colonization may implicate these associations in the increase in atmospheric oxygen and the global glaciation of 750–580 Myr which preceded (or facilitated ?) the Cambrian explosion of animals. The debate will continue, but the importance of fungi in the early colonization of land and related global environmental changes is supported by these fresh analyses. Heckman, D. S., Geiser, D. M., Eidell, B. R., Stauffer, R. L., Kardos, N. L. & Hedges, S. B. (2001) Molecular evidence for the early colonization of land by fungi and plants. Science 293 : 1129–1133.
1250 insect attack ; in all, 26 species were found of which 17 had not previously reported from moose droppings (pp. 1360–1366). Finally, the location of water within two lichens with different growth forms occurring as part of soil crusts has been examined by low temperature scanning electron microscopy ; hydrophobic features are illustrated and calcium oxalate or soil minerals were found to facilitate water retention – explaining the results of earlier water infiltration studies and emphasizing the importance of the lichen\substratum iunterface (pp. 1367–1374).
DOI : 10.1017\S095375620222691X
NEW BMS WEBSITE IN ACTION The British Mycological Society’s new official website is at http :\\www.britmycolsoc.org.uk. The site changed almost daily during August and early September 2002 as the first phase of its development was completed. At the beginning of the year the structure of the site was changed drastically as a Dynamic Content Management System was installed. The software underlying this is a database, the content of which is accessible to and changeable by the BMS Webmaster. Mostly during August 2002, we created ‘ ’ and added some 120 pages of BMS documentation. We’ve also added around 200 external links ; each of which has been verified and a descriptive paragraph composed prior to addition to the site. The site now has so much content that it’s well worth checking out. You will find that the main pages of the site give details about the different aspects of the Society’s activities. The biggest changes are in the section headed ‘ ’. Here you will find most of the documentation and most of the links. Not yet ‘ everything ’, but a hunge range from application forms, books, candidiasis and Doctor Fungus, to Verticillium,
West Weald, and yeast genomes. If you’re looking for something, head for ‘ ’ first. ‘ Appointments and Studentships Vacant ’ is a new section in which we can place advertisements for jobs and scholarships. It’s free (at the moment), so why not send your adverts to the Webmaster ? The section includes a note what to send and how to send it. Mycolegium, Royall T. Moore’s website on fungal biology, formed the foundation for a lot of the material which has now been added to the current BMS website. The Society owes a great debt to Roy who singlehandedly pioneered the creation of a BMS ‘ web presence ’ and has also provided many pages of content for the new BMS website.
David Moore BMS Webmaster School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 1.800 Stopford Building, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. E-mail : webmaster David Moore!britmycolsoc.org.uk
DOI : 10.1017\S0953756202236916
HOW OLD ARE THE FUNGI ? The dating of the early evolutionary history of fungi has remained uncertain with a scant fossil record and discrepancies between fossil data and molecular clock extrapolations based on DNA sequence data (Mycological Research News, Mycological Research 104(1) : 4, January 2000). Now Heckman et al. (2001) have approached the problem by analyzing amino acid sequences of potentially orthologous groups of fungi deposited in GenBank. They then used molecular clock methods to estimate the dates of origin and divergence of different fungal lineages. This revealed that the main fungal groups diverged way back in the Precambrian, 1458–966 Myr ago, significantly older than the estimates of 660–370 Myr for the same splits based on SSU nuclear rDNA sequences. ‘ One of the first steps toward the colonization of land by eukaryotes may have been
the formation of a lichen symbiosis, perhaps an endosymbiosis of a fungus and a unicellular cyanobacterium ’ around 900–544 Myr or even earlier. Land plants are estimated to have arisen around 700 Myr ago. The earlier colonization may implicate these associations in the increase in atmospheric oxygen and the global glaciation of 750–580 Myr which preceded (or facilitated ?) the Cambrian explosion of animals. The debate will continue, but the importance of fungi in the early colonization of land and related global environmental changes is supported by these fresh analyses. Heckman, D. S., Geiser, D. M., Eidell, B. R., Stauffer, R. L., Kardos, N. L. & Hedges, S. B. (2001) Molecular evidence for the early colonization of land by fungi and plants. Science 293 : 1129–1133.