Biology subjects

Földi, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Földi, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Functionally dark genes and the transcriptomic landscape of sporulation in a model mushroom-forming fungus

Spores are the primary means of fungal reproduction, contributing to genetic diversity, colonization, and adaptation. Although spore formation is a pivotal part of the fungal life cycle, its genetic underpinnings remain poorly known. In this study, we characterize transcriptomic changes from late meiosis to early basidiospore formation in the mushroom-forming fungus Coprinopsis cinerea, decipher several cellular processes, and identify novel genes involved in this process. We identify distinct trajectories of gene expression, each of which display different functional signals, corresponding to meiotic and morphogenetic processes and transitions between these. Our analyses identify diverse arrays of fungal cell wall modifying carbohydrate-active enzymes, ferritins, a putative catechol-melanin synthesis pathway, as well as components of the mitotic/meiotic apparatus. We present twelve highly conserved genes with roles specific to sexual sporulation in both budding yeast and C. cinerea, indicating deep conservation of the gene networks driving sexual spore formation. Reverse genetics identified three conserved but functionally poorly characterized genes conferring sporeless and spore-poor phenotypes that result from postmeiotic developmental arrests stemming from spore inflation and nuclear migration problems. Overall, this study provides novel insight into basidiomycete spore formation and highlights the cornucopia of novel functions encoded by functionally dark genes.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Snowball: a novel gene family required for developmental patterning in fruiting bodies of mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes)

The morphogenesis of sexual fruiting bodies of fungi is a complex process determined by a genetically encoded program. Fruiting bodies reached the highest complexity levels in the Agaricomycetes, yet, the underlying genetics is currently poorly known. In this work, we functionally characterized a highly conserved unannotated gene termed snb1, whose expression level increases rapidly during fruiting body initiation. According to phylogenetic analyses, orthologues of snb1 are present in almost all agaricomycetes and may represent a novel conserved gene family that plays a substantial role in fruiting body development. We disrupted snb1 using CRISPR/Cas9 in the agaricomycete model organism Coprinopsis cinerea. Snb1 deletion mutants formed unique, snowball-shaped, rudimentary fruiting bodies that could not differentiate caps, stipes and lamellae. We took advantage of this phenotype to study fruiting body differentiation using RNA-Seq analyses. This revealed differentially regulated genes and gene families that, based on wild-type RNA-Seq data, were upregulated early during development and showed tissue-specific expression, underscoring their potential role in differentiation. Taken together, the novel gene family of snb1 and the differentially expressed genes in the snb1 mutants provide valuable insights into the complex mechanisms underlying developmental patterning in the Agaricomycetes. ImportanceFruiting bodies of mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) are complex multicellular structures, with a spatially and temporally integrated developmental program that is, however, currently poorly known. In this study we present a novel, conserved gene family, Snowball (snb), termed after the unique, differentiation-less fruiting body morphology of snb1 knockout strains in the model mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea. Snb is a hitherto unannotated gene that is highly conserved among agaricomycetes and encodes a protein of unknown function. A comparative transcriptomic analysis of the early developmental stages of differentiated wild-type and non-differentiated mutant fruiting bodies revealed conserved differentially expressed genes which may be related to tissue differentiation and developmental patterning fruiting body development.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Developmental innovations promote species diversification in mushroom-forming fungi

Fungi evolved complex fruiting body ( mushroom) morphologies as adaptations to efficient spore dispersal in terrestrial habitats. Mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) display a graded series of developmental innovations related to fruiting body morphology, however, how these evolved is largely unknown, leaving the functional biology and evolutionary principles of complex multicellularity in the third largest multicellular kingdom poorly known. Here, we show that developmental innovations of mushroom-forming fungi that enclose the spore-producing surface (hymenophore) in a protected environment display significant asymmetry in their evolution and are associated with increased diversification rates. Enclosed development and related tissues (partial and universal veils) evolved convergently and became a widespread developmental type in clades in which it emerged. This probably mirrors increased fitness for protected fruiting body initials in terrestrial habitats, by better coping with environmental factors such as desiccation or predators, among others. We observed similar patterns in the evolution of complex hymenophore architectures, such as gills, pores or teeth, which optimize biomass-to-propagule number ratios and were found to spur diversification in mushrooms. Taken together, our results highlight new morphological traits associated with the adaptive radiation of mushroom-forming fungi and present formal phylogenetic testing of hypotheses on the reproductive ecology of a poorly known but hyperdiverse clade.

evolutionary biology↗