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Redividing the basidiomycetes on the basis of 5S rRNA sequences

Nature volume 299, pages 723–724 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Sequence data from slowly evolving macromolecules have been recognized for at least two decades1 to be of value in reconstructing the ordering and timing of evolutionary events as far back as the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes2,3. Fungi are particularly suitable organisms for investigating phylogenetic relationships by this approach. The fossil record is poor4 and morphological characters are limited, providing few reliable markers of phylogenetic relationships. To date, nearly all molecular sequence data from fungi have been derived from ascomycetes5,6, primarily yeasts. Basidiomycetes are represented by only one relevant macromolecular sequence, that of the cytochrome c from Ustilago sphaerogena7. Here, we report 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) nucleotide sequences from eight species of basidiomycetes. These sequences define two distinct clusters that correlate with the presence or absence of cell wall septal dolipores rather than with the traditional division of these species between the classes8,9 Heterobasidiomycetae and Homobasidiomycetae. We believe this provides a striking example of the utility of molecular sequence data in distinguishing reliable morphological or cytological marker(s) for a given phylogenetic lineage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Sir Charles Tupper Building, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4H7

    William F. Walker & W. Ford Doolittle

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  1. William F. Walker
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  2. W. Ford Doolittle
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Walker, W., Doolittle, W. Redividing the basidiomycetes on the basis of 5S rRNA sequences. Nature 299, 723–724 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/299723a0

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