Fungi are also intriguing because their cells are surprisingly similar to human

[Guest guest]

Fungi are also intriguing because their cells are surprisingly

similar to human cells, McLaughlin said. In 1998 scientists

discovered that fungi split from animals about 1.538 billion years

ago, whereas plants split from animals about 1.547 billion years

ago. This means fungi split from animals 9 million years after

plants did, in which case fungi are actually more closely related to

animals than to plants. The fact that fungi had motile cells

propelled by flagella that are more like those in animals than tose

in plants, supports that.

Not all fungi are beneficial to humans. A small percent have been

linked to human diseases, including life-threatening conditions.

Treating these can be risky because human and fungal cells are

similar. Any medicine that kills the fungus can also harm the

patient. Thus knowing more about fungi helps identify new and better

ways to treat serious fungal infections in humans. Fungi are also

the major cause of disease in agricultural crops, so understanding

them also helps track and control these plant diseases.

http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases & -lay=web & -

format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html & ID=3386 & -Find

Discovery about evolution of fungi has implications for humans, says

U of M researcher

Contact: McLaughlin, professor of plant biology, (612)-625-5736

Peggy Rinard, College of Biological Sciences, (612) 624-0774

Mark Cassutt, University News Service, (612) 624-8038

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/19/2006) -- As early fungi made the

evolutionary journey from water to land and branched off from

animals, they shed tail-like flagella that propelled them through

their aquatic environment and evolved a variety of new mechanisms

(including explosive volleys and fragrances) to disperse their

spores and reproduce in a terrestrial setting.

" What's particularly interesting is that species retained their

flagella for different lengths of time and developed different

mechanisms of spore dispersal, " said McLaughlin, professor of

plant biology at the University of Minnesota in the College of

Biological Sciences and co-author of a paper published in the Oct.

19 issue of Nature describing how fungi adapted to life on land.

The discovery is the latest installment in an international effort

to learn the origins of species. McLaughlin is one of five principal

investigators leading a team of 70 researchers at 35 institutions.

The group analyzed information from six key genetic regions in

almost 200 contemporary species to reconstruct the earliest days of

fungi and their various relations.

McLaughlin is directing the assembly of a shared database of fungal

structures obtained through electron microscopy, which produces

detailed images that provide clues to the diversity of these

organisms. The work is funded by a $2.65 million " Assembling the

Tree of Life " grant from the National Science Foundation that was

awarded to Duke University, the University of Minnesota, Oregon

State University and University in January 2003.

The discovery provides a new glimpse into evolution of life on

Earth. It will also help scientists better understand this unusual

group of organisms and learn how to develop uses for their unique

properties in medicine, agriculture, conservation and industry.

McLaughlin believes fungi are a valuable untapped natural resource.

They play a variety of roles in nature, such as supplying plants

with nutrients through mutualistic relationships and recycling dead

organisms. He estimates that there are about 1.5 million species on

the Earth, but only about 10 percent of those are known. And

civilization has only identified uses for a few of those, such as

using yeast to make bread, beer, wine, cheese and a few antibiotics.

" Understanding the relationships among fungi has many potential

benefits for humans, " McLaughlin said. " It provides tools to

identify unknown species that may lead to new products for medicine

and industry. It also helps us to manage natural areas, such as

Minnesota's oak savannahs, where the fungi play important roles but

are often hidden from view. "

Fungi are also intriguing because their cells are surprisingly

similar to human cells, McLaughlin said. In 1998 scientists

discovered that fungi split from animals about 1.538 billion years

ago, whereas plants split from animals about 1.547 billion years

ago. This means fungi split from animals 9 million years after

plants did, in which case fungi are actually more closely related to

animals than to plants. The fact that fungi had motile cells

propelled by flagella that are more like those in animals than tose

in plants, supports that.

Not all fungi are beneficial to humans. A small percent have been

linked to human diseases, including life-threatening conditions.

Treating these can be risky because human and fungal cells are

similar. Any medicine that kills the fungus can also harm the

patient. Thus knowing more about fungi helps identify new and better

ways to treat serious fungal infections in humans. Fungi are also

the major cause of disease in agricultural crops, so understanding

them also helps track and control these plant diseases.

McLaughlin and his colleagues will continue their efforts to

establish genetic relationships among fungi and to understand their

roles in nature. Additional structural studies, especially of key

species, are needed to determine how the organisms adapted.

McLaughlin is curator of fungi for the University of Minnesota Bell

Museum of Natural History, past president of the national

mycological society, and adviser to the state society. He has used

his knowledge of fungi to identify species that may be useful to

treat cancer and to preserve oak savannahs at Cedar Creek Natural

History Area in central Minnesota.