Fungal Diversity - Special Issue: Lifestyle changes of Fungi

Micro-fungi and macro-fungi (mushrooms) have an array of interactions with other biota, and also have a diversity of life cycles. They heterotrophically consume all sources of organic matter for nutrition while contributing immensely to nutrient recycling. Fungi can be saprobic, pathogenic, endophytic, epiphytic, symbiotic, commensal or lichenized on a wide range of hosts that include animals and plants. In each of these lifestyles, their interactions with the host vary. Thus, the interactions between fungi and their hosts are bound to be fascinating, a fraction of which we already have evidence, while a majority may yet to be discovered.

While most fungi are saprobes on dead organic material, there is evidence that they may be endophytes that switch to other life modes under various conditions. Some species live inside the host as endophytes and when the conditions change, they become pathogenic. However, which factors trigger these transformations have not been fully revealed. There is evidence to suggest that, within the same host, some species may have interchangeable lifestyles, as endophytes, pathogens, saprobes and possibly epiphytes. It remains to be confirmed if these variations in lifestyles are due to different levels of fungal gene expression or whether it is due to host genotypes that trigger these changes. Moreover, the question remains as to whether these fungal species are able to shift their lifestyles, from one host to another, and even inter-kingdom, such as from plants to animals or vice versa.

A special issue “Lifestyle changes of fungi”, will be issued in early 2023 seeking answers to numerous hypotheses and questions on lifestyle switches in fungi. In this special issue, different lifestyles of fungi will be discussed in detail including mechanisms, host-specificity, and any special characters. While all major groups of fungi will be considered, one emphasis will be on endophytes, including their complete life cycles in situ, with experimental evidence of lifestyle changes. Other topics for in-depth analyses and discussions include the effect of climatic change, global prediction of lifestyle changes of common pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungal species, and host shifting of fungi between plants and animals, as applicable to lifestyle changes of fungi. Data on genomic variations and the evolution of lifestyles will be included to improve the current knowledge.

Fungal Diversity invites original research and review articles to this special issue. The deadline to submit papers is October 30th, 2022, and papers will be online once accepted with the SI published in early 2023.