AUTHOR=Li Yixin , Yang Ting , Qiao Jinxia , Liang Jian , Li Zhonghu , Sa Wei , Shang Qianhan 

TITLE=Whole-genome sequencing and evolutionary analysis of the wild edible mushroom, Morchella eohespera

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1309703

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1309703

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Morels (<italic>Morchella</italic>, Ascomycota) are an extremely desired group of edible mushrooms with worldwide distribution. <italic>Morchella eohespera</italic> is a typical black morel species, belonging to the Elata clade of <italic>Morchella</italic> species. The biological and genetic studies of this mushroom are rare, largely hindering the studies of molecular breeding and evolutionary aspects. In this study, we performed <italic>de novo</italic> sequencing and assembly of the <italic>M. eohespera</italic> strain m200 genome using the third-generation nanopore sequencing platform. The whole-genome size of <italic>M. eohespera</italic> was 53.81 Mb with a contig N50 of 1.93 Mb, and the GC content was 47.70%. A total of 9,189 protein-coding genes were annotated. Molecular dating showed that <italic>M. eohespera</italic> differentiated from its relative <italic>M. conica</italic> at ~19.03 Mya (million years ago) in Burdigalian. Evolutionary analysis showed that 657 gene families were contracted and 244 gene families expanded in <italic>M. eohespera</italic> versus the related morel species. The non-coding RNA prediction results showed that there were 336 tRNAs, 76 rRNAs, and 45 snRNAs in the <italic>M. eohespera</italic> genome. Interestingly, there was a high degree of repetition (20.93%) in the <italic>M. eohespera</italic> genome, and the sizes of long interspersed nuclear elements, short interspersed nuclear elements, and long terminal repeats were 0.83 Mb, 0.009 Mb, and 4.56 Mb, respectively. Additionally, selection pressure analysis identified that a total of 492 genes in the <italic>M. eohespera</italic> genome have undergone signatures of positive selection. The results of this study provide new insights into the genome evolution of <italic>M. eohespera</italic> and lay the foundation for in-depth research into the molecular biology of the genus <italic>Morchella</italic> in the future.</p>