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A timetree of Fungi dated with fossils and horizontal gene transfers

Summary

Scientists created a detailed family tree showing when different types of fungi first evolved, going back over 1.4 billion years. They used fossil evidence and genetic information from fungi to figure out these ancient timelines. The study suggests that fungi and early plant ancestors interacted far earlier than previously thought, with a long gap before modern plants colonized land. This research helps us understand how fungi shaped the early evolution of life on Earth.

Background

Fungi represent a vast kingdom with diverse organisms inhabiting nearly all Earth’s ecosystems and playing crucial roles in ecological interactions. Dating the fungal tree of life has been challenging due to limited fossil calibrations and high taxonomic diversity. This study addresses these challenges by reconstructing a comprehensive phylogeny of fungi with temporal dating.

Objective

To reconstruct and date a comprehensive phylogeny of 110 fungal species using 225 phylogenetic markers while accounting for amino acid compositional heterogeneity. The study aimed to provide refined age estimates for crown Fungi and investigate ancient interactions between fungi and algal ancestors of land plants.

Results

Crown Fungi originated between 1,401–896 million years ago (Ma), substantially older than recently reported estimates. Ancient fungi-algae interactions involving algal ancestors of embryophytes are dated to 1,253–797 Ma. The analyses reveal a protracted temporal gap between early fungi-algae interactions and the rise of modern land plants, with major fungal clades diverging across the Proterozoic.

Conclusion

This comprehensive timetree provides a refined temporal framework for understanding fungal diversification and early interactions with embryophyte ancestors. The integration of multiple calibration approaches and uncertainty estimates offers robust age estimates for fungal evolutionary milestones. The study supports hypotheses about ancient mutualistic partnerships between fungi and early terrestrial organisms.
  • Published in:Nature Ecology & Evolution,
  • Study Type:Phylogenetic and Molecular Dating Study,
  • Source: PMID: 41034649, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02851-z
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