Large differences in carbohydrate degradation and transport potential among lichen fungal symbionts

Philipp Resl, Adina R. Bujold, Gulnara Tagirdzhanova, Peter Meidl, Sandra Freire Rallo, Mieko Kono, Samantha Fernández-Brime, Hörður Guðmundsson, Ólafur Sigmar Andrésson, Lucia Muggia, Helmut Mayrhofer, John P. McCutcheon, Mats Wedin, Silke Werth, Lisa M. Willis and Toby Spribille ()
Additional contact information
Philipp Resl: University of Graz, Institute of Biology
Adina R. Bujold: University of Alberta, Biological Sciences CW405
Gulnara Tagirdzhanova: University of Alberta, Biological Sciences CW405
Peter Meidl: Diversity and Evolution of Plants
Sandra Freire Rallo: Rey Juan Carlos University, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica
Mieko Kono: Swedish Museum of Natural History, Botany Department
Samantha Fernández-Brime: Swedish Museum of Natural History, Botany Department
Hörður Guðmundsson: University of Iceland
Ólafur Sigmar Andrésson: University of Iceland
Lucia Muggia: University of Trieste, Department of Life Sciences
Helmut Mayrhofer: University of Graz, Institute of Biology
John P. McCutcheon: University of Montana
Mats Wedin: Swedish Museum of Natural History, Botany Department
Silke Werth: Diversity and Evolution of Plants
Lisa M. Willis: University of Alberta, Biological Sciences CW405
Toby Spribille: University of Alberta, Biological Sciences CW405

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Lichen symbioses are thought to be stabilized by the transfer of fixed carbon from a photosynthesizing symbiont to a fungus. In other fungal symbioses, carbohydrate subsidies correlate with reductions in plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, but whether this is true of lichen fungal symbionts (LFSs) is unknown. Here, we predict genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and sugar transporters in 46 genomes from the Lecanoromycetes, the largest extant clade of LFSs. All LFSs possess a robust CAZyme arsenal including enzymes acting on cellulose and hemicellulose, confirmed by experimental assays. However, the number of genes and predicted functions of CAZymes vary widely, with some fungal symbionts possessing arsenals on par with well-known saprotrophic fungi. These results suggest that stable fungal association with a phototroph does not in itself result in fungal CAZyme loss, and lends support to long-standing hypotheses that some lichens may augment fixed CO2 with carbon from external sources.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30218-6

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