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THE evolution of fungi of the genus candida from infrequent pathogens to among the most common agents of nosocomial infection has been both dynamic and interesting. The story of their emergence beg...

Fungal selectivity (range of potential partners) for algal symbionts has been found to vary inlichen associations. Although a large number of studies have focused on the taxonomy and evolution of fungi in the speciose parmelioid clade (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota), fungal-algal interactions in this ecologically and evolutionarily diverse group remain largely unexplored. In this study we investigated the algal symbionts of Xanthoparmelia fungi in western North America. We generated sequence data from a total of 58 rock shield lichens (Xanthoparmelia fungi + Trebouxia algae) collected across three sites in a subalpine community in southern Utah, USA. We explored the role of substrates, secondary metabolite variation, phenotype-based Xanthoparmelia species, mycobiont genetic population clusters, and site-specific differences in structuring assemblages of algae. Our results indicate that Xanthoparmelia fungi associate with a broad range of Trebouxia lineages in a local, subalpine habitat. Most algae sam...

Ascomycetes are the largest group of true fungi, and characteristically produce their sexual spores in a sac-like structure called the ascus. They include medicinal agents (such as ergot), plant pathogens (Dutch elm disease is caused by an ascomycete) and yeasts used in fermentation. We have found the oldest ascomycetous fungi with flask-shaped ascocarps in thin-section preparations of the Lower Devonian (400 million years old) Rhynie chert of Aberdeenshire, Scotland1. This discovery has implications for dating the origin of this group of fungi, and underscores the diversity of fungal-plant interactions early in the colonization of the land.