“Very little is known about basal fungi such as Mucoromycotina and genomics may be the most efficient way to understand their metabolism. Many members of this phyla show very high sensitivity to environmental signals, which when understood could be used for natural control of some of these metabolic processes.”

In Current Biology, an international consortium led by DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers sequenced and annotated Mucoromycotina genomes, specifically those of Phycomyces blakesleeanus and its relative Mucor circinelloides. Sensory perception lies at the heart of adaptation to changing conditions, and helps fungi to improve growth and recycle organic waste, and to know when and how to infect a plant or animal host. These new results shed light on the evolution of sensory perception in fungi. Read more about this on the DOE JGI website.