Fungal Species: Basidiobolus meristosporus

Basidiobolomycosis caused by a rare species – Basidiobolus meristosporus

A five-year-old girl developed large swollen lumps on her buttock and thigh that were initially thought to be tuberculosis or cancer. Doctors took a tissue sample and found it was caused by a rare fungus called Basidiobolus meristosporus. Using advanced DNA sequencing techniques, they identified the exact fungus species and treated her successfully with an antifungal medication called itraconazole, leading to complete healing within six weeks.

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A timetree of Fungi dated with fossils and horizontal gene transfers

Scientists created a detailed family tree of fungi showing when different fungal groups evolved, dating back up to 1.4 billion years ago. They used information from fossils, genes shared between distantly related fungi, and chemical evidence to figure out the timeline. The results suggest that fungi interacted with early algae ancestors of plants for a very long time before modern plants took over land.

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