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American Journal of Botany 98(3): 426–438. 2011.
THE FUNGI: 1, 2, 3 … 5.1 MILLION SPECIES?1

Meredith Blackwell2
Department of Biological Sciences; Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 USA
• Premise of the study: Fungi are major decomposers in certain ecosystems and essential associates of many organisms. They
provide enzymes and drugs and serve as experimental organisms. In 1991, a landmark paper estimated that there are 1.5 million
fungi on the Earth. Because only 70 000 fungi had been described at that time, the estimate has been the impetus to search for
previously unknown fungi. Fungal habitats include soil, water, and organisms that may harbor large numbers of understudied
fungi, estimated to outnumber plants by at least 6 to 1. More recent estimates based on high-throughput sequencing methods
suggest that as many as 5.1 million fungal species exist.
• Methods: Technological advances make it possible to apply molecular methods to develop a stable classification and to dis-
cover and identify fungal taxa.
• Key results: Molecular methods have dramatically increased our knowledge of Fungi in less than 20 years, revealing a mono-
phyletic kingdom and increased diversity among early-diverging lineages. Mycologists are making significant advances in
species discovery, but many fungi remain to be discovered.
• Conclusions: Fungi are essential to the survival of many groups of organisms with which they form associations. They also
attract attention as predators of invertebrate animals, pathogens of potatoes and rice and humans and bats, killers of frogs and
crayfish, producers of secondary metabolites to lower cholesterol, and subjects of prize-winning research. Molecular tools in
use and under development can be used to discover the world’s unknown fungi in less than 1000 years predicted at current new
species acquisition rates.
Key words: biodiversity; fungal habitats; fungal phylogeny; fungi; molecular methods; numbers of fungi.
What are Fungi?— Fungal biologists debated for more than of zygotic meiosis. They interact with all major groups of or-
200 years about which organisms should be counted as Fungi. ganisms. By their descent from an ancestor shared with animals
In less than 5 years, DNA sequencing provided a multitude of about a billion years ago plus or minus 500 million years
new characters for analysis and identified about 10 phyla as (Berbee and Taylor, 2010), the Fungi constitute a major eukary-
members of the monophyletic kingdom Fungi (Fig. 1). Mycolo- otic lineage equal in numbers to animals and exceeding plants
gists benefited from early developments applied directly to (Figs. 2–10). The group includes molds, yeasts, mushrooms,
fungi. The “universal primers,” so popular in the early 1990s polypores, plant parasitic rusts and smuts, and Penicillium
for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), actually were de- chrysogenum, Neurospora crassa, Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
signed for fungi (Innis et al., 1990; White et al., 1990). Use of and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the important model organ-
the PCR was a monumental advance for those who studied min- isms studied by Nobel laureates.
ute, often unculturable, organisms. Problems of too few mor- Phylogenetic studies provided evidence that nucleriid pro-
phological characters (e.g., yeasts), noncorresponding characters tists are the sister group of Fungi (Medina et al., 2003), nonpho-
among taxa (e.g., asexual and sexual states), and convergent tosynthetic heterokont flagellates are placed among brown
morphologies (e.g., long-necked perithecia producing sticky algae and other stramenopiles, and slime mold groups are ex-
ascospores selected for insect dispersal) were suddenly over- cluded from Fungi (Alexopoulos et al., 1996). Current phyloge-
come. Rather than producing totally new hypotheses of rela- netic evidence suggests that the flagellum may have been lost
tionships, however, it is interesting to note that many of the new several times among the early-diverging fungi and that there is
findings supported previous, competing hypotheses that had more diversity among early diverging zoosporic and zygosporic
been based on morphological evidence (Alexopoulos et al., lineages than previously realized (Bowman et al., 1992; Blackwell
1996; Stajich et al., 2009). Sequences and phylogenetic analy- et al., 2006; Hibbett et al., 2007; Stajich et al., 2009).
ses were used not only to hypothesize relationships, but also to Sequences of one or several genes are no longer evidence
identify taxa rapidly (Kurtzman and Robnett, 1998; Brock enough in phylogenetic research. A much-cited example of the
et al., 2009; Begerow et al., 2010). kind of problem that may occur when single genes with differ-
Most fungi lack flagella and have filamentous bodies with ent rates of change are used in analyses involves Microsporidia.
distinctive cell wall carbohydrates and haploid thalli as a result These organisms were misinterpreted as early-diverging eu-
karyotes in the tree of life based on their apparent reduced mor-
1 Manuscript received 10 August 2010; revision accepted 19 January 2011. phology (Cavalier-Smith, 1983). Subsequently, phylogenetic
The author thanks N. H. Nguyen, H. Raja, and J. A. Robertson for analyses using small subunit ribosomal RNA genes wrongly
permission to use their photographs, two anonymous reviewers who helped supported a microsporidian divergence before the origin of mi-
to improve the manuscript, and David Hibbett, who graciously provided tochondria in eukaryotic organisms (Vossbrinck et al., 1987).
an unpublished manuscript. She acknowledges funding from NSF DEB- More recent morphological and physiological studies have not
0417180 and NSF-0639214. upheld this placement, and analyses of additional sequences,
2 Author for correspondence (e-mail: [email protected])
including those of protein-coding genes, support the view that
doi:10.3732/ajb.1000298 these obligate intracellular parasites of insect and vertebrate
American Journal of Botany 98(3): 426–438, 2011; http://www.amjbot.org/ © 2011 Botanical Society of America
426
March 2011] Blackwell—Fungal numbers 427
It is important to note that there was broad participation and,

essentially, global involvement on these projects, emphasizing
that studies of biodiversity are indeed global endeavors. Addi-
tional pages were contributed to the Tree of Life web project
(http://www.tolweb.org/Fungi/2377) to make information on
fungi more accessible to students and the general public. Two
objectives of the ongoing AFTOL-2 project include increased
taxon sampling of fungi for molecular data and the discovery of
correlated morphological and biochemical characters (AFTOL
Structural and Biochemical Database, https://aftol.umn.edu;
Celio et al., 2006).
Known fungal species— The Dictionary of Fungi (Kirk

et al., 2008) reported 97 330 species of described fungi at the
“numbers of fungi” entry. The addition of 1300 microsporidi-
ans brings the total of all described fungi to about 99 000 spe-
cies (Fig. 1). The Dictionary’s estimate of known species has
almost tripled in the period between the first edition in 1943
(38 000 described species) and now, amounting to an increase
of more than 60 000 described species over the 65-yr period
(Fig. 11). Factors such as difficulty of isolation and failure to
apply molecular methods may contribute to lower numbers of
species in certain groups, but there cannot be any doubt that
ascomycetes and basidiomycetes comprise the vast majority of
fungal diversity (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Fungal phyla and approximate number of species in each group
(Kirk et al., 2008). Evidence from gene order conversion and multilocus Estimated total fungal numbers— In 1991, a landmark
sequencing indicates that microsporidians are Fungi (see below; Lee et al., paper provided several qualified estimates of the number of fungi
2010). Note also that zoosporic and zygosporic fungal groups are not sup- on the Earth based on ratios of known fungi to plant species
ported as monophyletic. Tree based on Hibbett et al. (2007), White et al. in regions where fungi were considered to be well-studied
(2006), and James et al. (2006). (Hawksworth, 1991). “Estimate G” of 1.5 million species was
accepted as a reasonable working hypothesis based on a fungus
hosts are members of the Fungi (Keeling, 2009; Corradi and to plant ratio of 6 : 1, in contrast to the much lower 50–60-yr-old
Keeling, 2009). Additional evidence from genome structure as estimates by Bisby and Ainsworth (1943) of 100 000 fungal
well as phylogenetic analyses, supports the inclusion of mi- species and by Martin (1951) of 250 000 species based on one
crosporidians within the Fungi and indicates that comparison of fungus for every phanerogam known at the time. A more recent
whole genomes contributes to the solution of challenging phy- estimate of the total number of fungi, 720 256 (Schmit and
logenetic problems (Lee et al., 2010). Mueller, 2007), is also low compared to present estimates that
The level of resolution and sophistication of systematics include environmental samples.
studies made possible by molecular markers and phylogenetic Hawksworth’s (1991) estimate now is considered to be con-
analyses put mycologists on equal footing with other biologists servative by many, including Hawksworth (Hawksworth and
for competitive funding, and they joined in several community- Rossman, 1997), because numerous potential fungal habitats
wide efforts to organize fungal diversity within a phylogenetic and localities remain understudied (Hawksworth, 2001). Fur-
classification. Three projects funded by the National Science thermore, the use of molecular methods had not yet been con-
Foundation were initiated, including the Research Coordination sidered as a means of species discovery. For example, analysis
Network: A Phylogeny for Kingdom Fungi (Deep Hypha) and of environmental DNA samples from a soil community re-
successive Tree of Life projects, Assembling the Fungal Tree vealed a high rate of new species accumulation at the site, and
of Life (AFTOL-1) and a second ongoing project (AFTOL-2) these data supported an estimate of 3.5 to 5.1 million species
(Blackwell et al., 2006). A major product of the Deep Hypha (O’Brien et al., 2005). Using the present discovery rate of about
project was the publication of 24 papers on fungal phylogeny in 1200 fungal species per year based on the last 10 years, Hibbett
a single journal issue (Mycologia 98: 829–1103). The papers and his colleagues (in press) estimated that it would take 1170
included an introduction to progress in fungal phylogeny, a years to describe 1.4 million fungi (based on Estimate G of
paper on dating the origin of Fungi, one on the evolution of Hawksworth [1991]) and 2840 to 4170 yr to describe 3.5 to 5.1
morphological traits, and 21 articles with multilocus phyloge- million (based on O’Brien et al., 2005).
nies of most major groups. Participants included 156 authors Using present higher estimates of land plant numbers as
with some involved in more than one paper; only 72 of the au- somewhat under 400 000 species (Paton et al., 2008; Joppa
thors were originally from North America. The multi-investigator et al., 2010) fungal species numbers now are expected to outnum-
AFTOL-1 publication (Hibbett et al., 2007) included a widely ber land plants by as much as 10.6 : 1 based on O’Brien et al.
used and often cited phylogenetic classification to the level of (2005). Even higher ratios have been predicted using data from
order (e.g., Kirk et al., 2008; The NCBI Entrez Taxonomy Home- high-throughput sequencing of clone libraries, although indi-
page, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/taxonomy; Science Watch, vidual ecosystems will vary (L. Taylor, University of Alaska,
http://sciencewatch.com/dr/nhp/2009/09jannhp/09jannhpHibb). Fairbanks, personal communication, January 2011). The large gap
The paper included 68 authors from more than 20 countries. between known and estimated species numbers has led to a series
428 American Journal of Botany [Vol. 98
of papers and symposia (e.g., Hawksworth and Rossman, 1997; DNA methodology makes it possible to use independent
Hawksworth, 2001; Hyde, 2001; Mueller and Schmit, 2007) at- sampling methods to discover the presence of organisms with-
tempting to answer the question “Where are the missing fungi?” out ever seeing a culture or a specimen. Several new methods
significantly outperform previous automated sequencing meth-
How to discover new fungi— Collecting and culturing fungi ods (e.g., Jumpponen and Jones, 2009; Metzker, 2010). Al-
from the environment will remain important because of the though there may be certain limitations and biases for the
need to identify specimens, revise taxonomy, assess the roles in different methods (Amend et al., 2010a; Tedersoo et al., 2010),
the environment, and provide strains for biological control, en- mycologists have been quick to embrace them in ecological and
vironmental remediation, and industrial processes. A physical biodiversity studies. O’Brien and colleagues (2005) pointed out
specimen, including an inert culture, is still required as a type that collection and culture methods revealed numbers of fungi
specimen (but see Conclusions later), and vouchers of known similar to those acquired by sampling environmental DNA.
fungi are used for documenting DNA sequences deposited in Hibbett et al. (in press), however, used data from GenBank to
some databases (Nilsson et al., 2006). For example, the current show that by 2008 and 2009 the number of environmental
AFTOL project has a requirement that each sequence deposited samples, excluding overwhelming numbers of sequences dis-
as part of the project be linked to a specimen, including a covered by pyrosequencing, exceeded the accessions of speci-
culture. men-based sequences. The rapid development of automated,
All taxa biological inventories (ATBIs) attempt to survey or- high-throughput methods also has made it possible to acquire
ganisms within particular geographical regions by collection of whole genome sequences for population level studies (Liti
specimens and culture of substrates. One of these, Discover et al., 2009; Neafsey et al., 2010).
Life in America, All Taxa Biological Inventory, seeks to survey
an estimated 50 000 to 100 000 species of organisms in the Which regions of the Earth harbor fungal diversity?— Fungi
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Karen Hughes and grow in almost all habitats on Earth, surpassed only by bacteria
Ronald Petersen have been successful in collecting more in their ability to withstand extremes in temperature, water ac-
than 3000 species of fungi, mostly agarics housed in the Uni- tivity, and carbon source (Raspor and Zupan, 2006). Tropical
versity of Tennessee Fungal Herbarium (http://tenn.bio.utk.edu/ regions of the world are considered to have the highest diversity
fungus/database/fungus-browse-results.asp?GSMNP=GSMNP), for most groups of organisms (Pianka, 1966; Hillebrand, 2004),
out of about 17 000 species of all taxa that have been collected and this is generally true for fungi as well (Arnold and Lutzoni,
by others in the park (Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories: 2007).
Agaric Diversity in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, A group of researchers are studying the diversity of the Guy-
NSF DEB 0338699). All fungal specimens have been identi- ana Shield. For the last 11 years, Terry Henkel and Cathie Aime
fied, and the agarics have been studied to the extent that a cul- and their colleagues have studied the fungi in six 1-km2 plots—
ture, ITS barcode sequence, and genetic analysis are available three in a Dicymbe corymbosa-dominated forest and three in a
for many species. This successful project has required hours of mixed tropical forest. Their current collections contain 1200
time over a number of years and costly resources for studying morphospecies, primarily basidiomycetes. Approximately 260
the material, but it serves as an example of the commitment species were collected repeatedly only in the Dicymbe plots.
needed to acquire specimen-based information on fungi. Thus far, two new genera and ca. 50 new species have been
←
Figs. 2–10. Examples of fungal diversity. 2. Lemonniera sp. Tetraradiate conidia developed on a submerged leaf in a well-aerated freshwater stream
surrounded by lush vegetation. This type of aquatic species, an Ingoldian ascomycete, is named for C. T. Ingold, who pioneered the study of these fungi,
that are characterized by highly branched conidia. Photo courtesy of H. Raja. 3. The aero-aquatic ascomycete Helicoon gigantisporum produces distinctive
tightly coiled conidia. As the spore develops air is trapped in the coil and causes it to be buoyant. This feature is an adaptation for the polyphyletic aero-
aquatic fungi that grow on leaves in slow-moving or stagnant freshwater. Photo courtesy of H. Raja. 4. The smut Testicularia sp. develops in the ovary of
grasses and (as shown here) sedges. The spores mature sequentially, with the dark spores being more mature. A plant taxonomy student once thought he
had discovered a new species of Leersia, distinguished by large ovaries of ca. 1 cm, only to be disappointed that the enlargement was caused by a fungus.
It is helpful to mycologists when plant taxonomists collect and accession fungal diversity by selecting some diseased plant specimens, an activity that
should be encouraged. 5. Perithecia of Pyxidiophora sp. (Laboulbeniomycetes) developed in moist chamber on moose dung from Meredith Station, New
Brunswick, Canada. The 150 µm long ascospores are seen at the tip of the perithecium neck in the center. Spores adhere to phoretic mites that are carried
by dung beetles to fresh dung piles. Some fungi have complex animal dispersal systems. Pyxidiophora species are usually mycoparasites that grow on fungi
in dung or other substrates including wrack washed up on beaches. The genus is a “missing link” and provided clues to confirm that Laboulbeniomycetes
are ascomycetes and not other kinds of fungi or floridian red algae. 6. The ca. 8 cm wide basidiomata of Pycnoporus sp., a wide-ranging, brightly colored,
wood-decaying polypore, photographed at Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Some collectors have referred to basidiomycetes that produce colorful basidi-
omata as charismatic megamycota of the fungus world. 7. Peniophorella baculorubrensis, a bark-decaying basidiomycete common on and restricted to
living live oak (Quercus virginiana), decays the bark and changes its water-holding capacity. The effect of decay on bryophyte communties by this fungus
was first studied by ecologists (Penfound and Mackaness, 1940) more than 70 yr ago but was not described until a specialist on wood-decaying fungi hap-
pened to notice it on the Louisiana State University campus, Baton Rouge (Gilbertson and Blackwell, 1984). The inconspicuous basidiomata are shown
growing on the lower side of a 7 cm long bark segment aimed downward for basidiospore discharge in response to gravity. 8. Basidiomata of Perenniporia
phloiophila on the bark of living Quercus virginiana. Although the basidiomata are obvious against the darker bark, this species was not described until it
was discovered at the same time and often on the same trees as Peniophorella baculorubrensis. Although the fungus usually rots only the outer bark, it will
invade and decay wood whenever the vascular cambium is broached by a bird or insect. In addition to the two species on live oak, six other species have
been described from the campus, illustrating the need for specialists to study noncharismatic fungi. 9. A basidioma (8 cm diameter) of the wood-decaying
fungus, Favolus tenuiculus, a favorite food of several species of mushroom-feeding beetles (see Fig. 10). Photo courtesy of N. H. Nguyen. 10. The small
(>10 mm long) brightly colored beetle, Mycotretus sp. (Erotylidae), was collected at Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Many erotylid beetles have special-
ized yeast-packed pouches at the anterior end of the midgut. More than 200 novel yeasts have been isolated from the gut of ca. 15 families of mushroom-
feeding beetles (Suh et al., 2005). Photo courtesy of James A. Robertson.
described. On the basis of groups already studied, Aime esti- In temperate deserts, mycorrhizal boletes, agarics, and rust
mated that ca. 120 new ectomycorrhizal taxa have been discov- and smut fungi, are common. A surprising number of wood-
ered. Including novel saprobes as well as ectomycorrhizal decaying basidiomycetes have been discovered on living and
fungi, ca. 500 new species are expected among the 1200 taxa dead desert plants, including cacti and are in the University of
collected. It is clear, however, that these are not simply high Arizona, Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium (http://
numbers of new taxa, but biologically interesting fungi as well ag.arizona.edu/mycoherb/herbholdings). When a noted mycol-
(Aime et al., 2010). One species is so unusual, that a reviewer ogist moved to Arizona early in his career, he became excited
of the original report called it “the find of the century” (Redhead, about the new and unreported fungal diversity found in the des-
2002). As Aime has quipped “if one were to compare the ratio ert. His proposed study of the wood-decaying fungi of the
of fungi to plants in the Dicymbe plots as did Hawksworth Sonoran Desert was poorly received with a comment that wood-
(1991), the ratio would be 260 to 1, obviously an overestimate decaying fungi were not present in the desert (R. L. Gilbertson,
but also a cautionary exercise in basing any estimate on a single University of Arizona, personal communication, August 1979).
ecotype” (M. C. Aime, Louisiana State University, personal The Sonoran Desert, however, has many plants (e.g., cacti, oco-
communication, August 2010). tillo, and mesquite and other desert legumes) that are substrates
Many fungi have in fact come from temperate regions, and for polypores and resupinate basidiomycetes (e.g., Gilbertson
some studies report a high diversity of fungi. For example, in a and Ryvarden, 1986, 1987).
study of indoor air from buildings using culture-independent Fungi also grow at low temperatures. An example involves
sampling methods, diversity was found to be significantly fungal deterioration of historic huts built between 1901 and
higher in temperate sites independent of building design or use. 1911 for use by Antarctic explorers including Robert Scott and
The authors also alluded to the possibility that previous studies Ernest Shackleton, and although there are not large species
of certain mycorrhizal fungi showed similar trends (Amend numbers, it is important not to overlook this fungal habitat in
et al., 2010b). More investigation in this area is needed, but it is diversity studies (Held et al., 2005). Lichens have often been
clear that many undescribed fungi are present in temperate re- reported to be common in Arctic and Antarctic regions (Wirtz
gions. Popular literature often rationalizes the need to save the et al., 2008), and yeasts are active under frozen conditions in
rainforests, not because of their intrinsic value, but because of the Antarctic (Vishniac, 2006; Amato et al., 2009). In some
the potential drug-producing organisms that may be found cases, a yeast isolated from the Antarctic (based on 28S rDNA
there. Many of the commercially most successful fungal drugs, barcoding) also has been reported from varied habitats, includ-
however, come from temperate fungi. Penicillium chrysoge- ing human infections, the gut of insects, deep seas, and hydro-
num, producer of penicillin, was found in a northern temperate carbon seeps (Kurtzman and Fell, 1998; Bass et al., 2007;
city. Another remarkable fungus, Tolypocladium inflatum from personal observation). Although some fungi are specialized for
Norwegian soil, synthesizes cyclosporine, an immune-suppres- cold regions, others simply occupy a wide variety of environ-
sant drug that revolutionized organ transplants (Borel, 2002); mental conditions.
the sexual state of this fungus was collected in New York, USA Many regions and habitats of the world need to be included
(Hodge et al., 1996). Today the drug is commonly used to treat in fungal discovery. In general, microscopic fungi and those
dry eye (Perry et al., 2008), as well as many serious conditions. that cannot be cultured are very poorly known. Parts of Africa
Statins produced by fungi such as Aspergillus terreus from tem- remain to be collected for many, although not all, fungal groups
perate regions, combat high cholesterol levels, as well as pro- (Crous et al., 2006). Fungi are important as symbionts, and they
viding other benefits (Vaughan et al., 1996; Askenazi et al., are associated with every major group of organisms, bacteria,
2003; Baigent et al., 2005). plants and green algae, and animals including insects. Because
certain under-studied symbiotic associations are known to in-
clude large numbers of fungi, these are a good place to search
for new taxa. The associated organisms also allow for resam-
pling, a quick way to obtain data about host specificity. Target-
ing hosts also is a productive method for discovering fungal
fossils, such as those associated with plants of the Rhynie Chert
(Taylor et al., 2004). Examples of diversity in particular fungal
habitats are reviewed in the following sections.
Fungi and plant roots— Mycorrhizal plants and their fungal
partners have been studied by a number of mycologists (Trappe,
1987; Smith and Read, 2008). The fungi often are essential to
their plant hosts because they take up water, nitrogen, phospho-
rus, and other nutrients from the soil and transfer them to the
plant roots. Some of these fungi may not prosper or even grow
without the host. In addition to flowering plants and conifers,
many bryophytes and ferns are mycorrhizal (Pressel et al.,
2010). Certain mycorrhizal fungi specialize on orchids and eri-
coid plants, and some are known to have invaded new habitats
with successful invasive plants (Pringle et al., 2009).
Fig. 11. Numbers of known fungi from the Dictionary of the Fungi
(editions 1–10, 1950–2008). Authors state that the large increase in species There are two main types of mycorrhizal fungi, arbuscular
numbers in the 10th edition may be inflated because asexual and sexual mycorrhizae (AM) and ectomycorrhizae. AM associations are
forms were counted separately and molecular techniques that distinguish more common and occur with up to 80% of all plant species and
close taxa have been used. 92% of plant families. AM fungi are all members of the phylum
Glomeromycota, a less diverse group than ectomycorrhizal phylloplane yeasts occupy leaf surfaces of many plants and
fungi with about 250 described species in a variety of taxa are increasingly recognized for their control of potential leaf
(Gerdemann, 1968; Schüßler and Walker, 2011; Wang and Qiu, pathogens (Fonseca and Inácio, 2006). In addition to the
2006). Evidence from recent molecular studies, however, indi- thousands of native fungi that parasitize plants in the United
cates that cryptic species with higher levels of host specificity States, pathologists are constantly on the lookout for introduced
than previously realized will increase the number of known AM pathogens that often are undescribed when they arrive to deci-
fungi (Selosse et al., 2006; Smith and Read, 2008). More than mate naïve native plant populations. For example, invasive
6000 species, mostly of mushroom-forming basidiomycetes, fungi such as those grouped as Dutch elm disease fungi, chest-
form ectomycorrhizae with about 10% of all plant families. nut blight fungus, dogwood anthracnose fungus, and redbay
Greater host specificity usually occurs in the ectomycorrhizal wilt fungus, were all unknown until they were observed soon
fungus–plant associations than in AM associations (Smith and after their introduction (Alexopoulos et al., 1996; Zhang and
Read, 2008). Vast parts of the world remain to be sampled Blackwell, 2001; Harrington et al., 2008). Exotic localities will
(Mueller et al., 2007), and it is expected that barriers to inter- need to be searched for undescribed fungi that probably go
breeding have led to high genetic diversity among these fungi largely unnoticed on their native hosts. It is important to note
(Petersen and Hughes, 2007). that although fungi may cause only minor symptoms to hosts in
their native habitats, one of these may have the potential to be
Inside plant leaves and stems— Almost all plants on Earth the next destructive disease after introduction to a new region.
are infected with endophytes, fungi that do not cause disease Molecular methods have helped to clarify limits of closely
symptoms (Saikkonen et al., 1998). Endophytes occur between related species and to establish host ranges (e.g., Crous et al.,
the cells, usually of above ground plant parts, and represent a 2008). In a study of 26 leaf spot fungi in Australia, three genera
broad array of taxonomic groups (Arnold, 2007; Rodriguez of Myrtaceae, including Eucalyptus, were hosts for three new
et al., 2009). The earliest studies of endophytes were of those as- genera and 20 new species (Cheewangkoon et al., 2009). Al-
sociated with grasses (Diehl, 1950). Some grass endophytes are though the authors acknowledged the high level of new taxa
specialized members of the Clavicipitaceae, relatives of insect discovered, they pointed out that the potential for host shifts
and fungal parasites in the Hypocreales, and many species pro- within plantations might lower estimates of fungal species
duce alkaloid toxins effective against insects, other invertebrate numbers worldwide. Host or substrate specificity is a concept
animals, and vertebrates (Clay et al., 1993). Some grass endo- that can be applied to fungal groups that are closely associated
phytes are transmitted to the host offspring in seeds, and others with hosts such as endophytes, pathogens, and mycorrhizal
inhibit sexual reproduction in the host and are dispersed within fungi but not usually for saprobic species (Zhou and Hyde,
plant parts such as leaf fragments. For grass endophytes that 2001). In the past species of plant pathogens often were based
reproduce sexually, fertilization may occur by insect dispersal. on host identity, a practice that is not always effective because
Water intake is increased in infected hosts, and these plants some groups are host-specific while others are not.
often grow taller than uninfected hosts.
A much more diverse group of endophytic fungi are associ- Lichens and lichenicolus fungi— About 20% of all fungi
ated with plants in addition to grasses, including a variety of and 40% of the ascomycetes (13 500 species) are lichen-forming
dicots and conifers (Carroll, 1988; Rodriguez et al., 2009). In fungi (Lutzoni and Miadlikowska, 2009). Lichenicolous fungi,
some tropical forests considered to be diversity hotspots for en- parasites, and other associates of lichens are not well col-
dophytes, there are extremely large numbers of the fungi, some- lected, but an estimate for the combined lichens and licheni-
times with hundreds reported from a single tree species, judged colous fungi is about 20 000 species (Feuerer and Hawksworth,
by both cultural and molecular methods of discovery and iden- 2007). Lichens and lichenicolous fungi are polyphyletic, and
tification (Arnold et al., 2001; Arnold and Lutzoni, 2007; several different groups of ascomycetes and a few species of
Pinruan et al., 2007; Rodriguez et al., 2009). In one study, more basidiomycetes have become associated with green algae and
than 400 unique morphotypes were isolated from 83 leaves of cyanobacteria (Lutzoni and Miadlikowska, 2009). Feuerer
two species of tropical trees. A subset of the fungi was distrib- (2010) can be consulted for information on lichen diversity
uted among at least seven orders of ascomycetes (Arnold et al., worldwide. This checklist also highlights the absence of collec-
2000). Leaves usually acquired multiple infections as they ma- tions in certain regions.
tured, and there was strong evidence that the endophytes pro- Deserts are rich in lichens. Of 1971 lichen species and asso-
tected leaves of plants, such as Theobroma cacao, from infection ciated fungi reported from the Sonoran Desert, about 25% stud-
when they were challenged with pathogens (Arnold et al., ied since 1990 are new. Three volumes on lichens of the greater
2003). Vega and colleagues (2010) also found high diversity of Sonoran Desert region have been published (Nash et al., 2002,
endophytes in cultivated coffee plants. Interestingly, some of 2004). Other habitats of high lichen diversity are Arctic and
these were insect pathogens and experiments are being con- Antarctic regions (Feuerer, 2010).
ducted to develop endophytes as biological control agents of
insect pests. Fungi from arthropod and invertebrate animals— There is
a need for more information on arthropod- and insect-associated
Plant pathogens— Plant pathogens differ from endophytes fungi. As was mentioned earlier, estimates of global fungal di-
in that they cause disease symptoms. Although some zoosporic versity usually omit insect-associated species because they are
and zygosporic fungi are plant pathogens, most plant pathogens so poorly known (Hawksworth, 1991; Rossman, 1994; Mueller
are ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. A large number of asco- and Schmit, 2007; Schmit and Mueller, 2007). Several post-
mycetes and ca. 8000 species of basidiomycetes are plant patho- 1991 estimates of insect-associated fungi suggested that 20 000–
gens. In addition to crop pathogens, it is important to remember 50 000 species exist (Rossman, 1994; Weir and Hammond 1997a,
that many pathogens are numerous and important in natural b; Schmit and Mueller, 2007). Some parasites are biotrophic,
ecosystems (Farr et al., 1989; Burdon, 1993). Nonpathogenic associated with living insects, and many do not grow in culture.
These also usually require special methods for removal and Insects may be food for fungi, especially in low nitrogen en-
mounting, and few mycologists or entomologists have ever vironments. The mycelium of Pleurotus ostreatus, a favorite
seen members of the Laboulbeniomycetes or the fungal tricho- edible species for humans, secretes toxic droplets that kill nem-
mycetes, Asellariales and Harpellales (Lichtwardt et al., 2001; atodes. A study involving the mushroom-producing, ectomyc-
Cafaro, 2005). Laboulbeniomycetes are seta-sized, ectopara- orrhizal basidiomycete, Laccaria bicolor, was designed to
sitic ascomycetes of insects, mites, and millipedes (Weir and determine the amount of predation by springtails on the fungal
Blackwell, 2005). All 2000 known species have distinctive life mycelium. The study led to the surprise discovery that the fun-
cycles with determinate thalli arising from two-celled as- gus was not insect food, but rather, it, and indirectly, the host
cospores. About 90% of the species have been found on adult tree benefited by obtaining substantial amounts of nitrogen
beetles (12 of 24 superfamilies) or on flies. New arthropod hosts from the insects (Klironomos and Hart, 2001). The predatory
at the level of family are still being discovered (Weir and habit has arisen independently on several occasions in at least
Hammond, 1997a, b; Rossi and Weir, 2007), and there is four phyla of fungi and oomycetes. Predaceous fungi such as
an indication that there is some degree of host specificity (De species of Arthrobotrys and Dactylella lure, then trap, snare, or
Kesel, 1996). In the future, increased use of molecular meth- grip nematodes and other small invertebrate animals in soils
ods will make it possible to determine the degree of species and in wood (Barron, 1977).
level host specificity, but the information is not available now. Ødegaard (2000) revised global estimates of arthropods
Septobasidiales, relatives of the basidiomycete rust fungi are downward from 30 million to 5–10 million. Not all insects and
associated with scale insects, and their felty basidiomata arthropods are tightly associated with fungi, but even the re-
presumably protect the insects from parasitoid wasps. Many vised species estimates indicate that the numbers of insect-
microsporidians also are parasites of a broad group of host associated fungi will be very high.
insects.
Necrotrophic parasites of insects include some members of Soil fungi—Soil is a habitat of high fungal diversity (Waksman,
Chytridiomycota, Blastocladiales (Coelomomyces), Ento- 1922; Gilman, 1957; Kirk et al., 2004; Domsch et al., 2007).
mophthorales, and Tubeufiaceae (Podonectria) (Benjamin Soil fungi and bacteria are important in biogeochemical cycles
et al., 2004). About 5000 members of three families of Hypoc- (Vandenkoornhuyse et al., 2002), and the diversity of soil fungi
reales are necrotrophic parasites of arthropods (Spatafora et al., is highest near organic material such as roots and root exudates.
2007, 2010). These species show an evolutionary pattern of Per volume, large numbers of microscopic fungi occur in pure
host shifting among plants, fungi, and insects in addition to dis- soil, and these are largely asexual ascomycetes and some zygo-
playing a high level of host specificity. mycetes, including animal-associated Zoopagales. Gams (2006)
Fungi also occur in ancient, obligate gardening associations estimated that 3150 species of soil fungi are known, and ca.
with bark and ambrosia beetles, attine ants, and Old World ter- 70% are available in culture. There presently is a high rate of new
mites, and new species are still being discovered in these groups species acquisition, and the group appears to be better known
(Benjamin et al., 2004; Little and Currie, 2007; Harrington than most ecologically defined groups. Molecular studies, how-
et al., 2008; Aanen et al., 2009). Many yeasts are associated ever, are predicted to increase the total number (Bills et al.,
with insects, particularly insects that feed on nectar (Lachance, 2004). In fact a study of soil communities in several forest types at
2006; Robert et al., 2006). the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research site, Fair-
Other insects contain gut yeasts, a habitat where few have banks, Alaska, United States, revealed not only seasonal changes
looked for them. Isolations from the gut of mushroom-feeding in community composition but also in dominance of fungi over
beetles yielded up to 200 new species of yeasts (Suh et al., bacteria. The data acquired by several molecular methods in-
2004, 2005; see also Lachance et al., 2010). Because only about cluding high-throughput sequencing greatly increased the total
1500 ascomycete yeasts (Saccharomycotina) have been de- number of fungal sequences in GenBank at the time (Taylor
scribed, the gut yeasts represent a dramatic increase in diversity et al., 2010). Taylor and his colleagues found more than 200
from a limited geographical range (Boekhout, 2005; C. Kurtzman, operational taxonomic units in a 0.25 g soil sample with only
USDA-ARS, personal communication, July 2010). In fact, the 14% overlap in a sample taken a meter away. This study is not
estimated total number of yeast species worldwide could be indirectly comparable with the soil fungi reported by Gams (2006)
creased by as much as 50% by simply recollecting in previously because Gams’ figures excluded fungi such as mycorrhizal
collected sites from the study (Suh et al., 2005). As Lachance species.
(2006) pointed out, based on predictions of yeast numbers Another study of soil fungi based on environmental DNA
using data from species in slime fluxes and in associations with sequences showed an unexpected distribution of a group of
flower-visiting insects, it is necessary to obtain more informa- zoosporic fungi, Chytridiomycota. The chytrids, were found to
tion on specificity and geographical ranges before better esti- be the predominate group of fungi in nonvegetated, high-elevation
mates can be made. Although not all insects harbor large soils at sites in Nepal and in the United States in Colorado,
numbers of yeasts in their guts, those with restricted diets in all where more than 60% of the clone libraries obtained were from
life history stages such as mushrooms or wood are often associ- chytrids. A phylogenetic analysis of the sequences compared
ated with yeasts. Host insects may acquire digestive enzymes or with those of a broad selection of known chytrids, indicated that
vitamins from the yeasts. This contention is supported by the a diverse group of Chytridiomycota representing three orders
fact that unrelated insects feeding on mushrooms (e.g., beetles was present (Freeman et al., 2009).
in different lineages, lepidopteran larvae) all have gut yeasts Most major fungal lineages are known from cultures and speci-
with similar assimilative capabilities and vitamin production. mens, but there have been a few surprises even in well-sampled
The high rate of discovery of yeasts in under-collected habitats habitats such as soil. Soil clone group I (SCGI) represents a
and localities suggests that far more taxa await discovery (Suh major lineage of fungi that occurs in temperate and tropical soils
et al., 2005), and the gut habitat has been considered a yeast on three continents, but no one has ever seen or isolated any of
diversity hotspot (Boekhout, 2005). the species into culture (Schadt et al., 2003; Porter et al., 2008).
The phylogenetic position of this lineage, perhaps a new phy- 1991), and Hyde et al. (1998) estimated that more than 1500
lum, appeared as a sister group to the clade of Pezizomycotina– species of marine fungi occur in a broad array of taxonomic
Saccharomycotina (Porter et al., 2008). Other unexpected groups. Many of these fungi are distinct from freshwater aquatic
higher taxonomic level fungal clades have been detected from species, and they may be saprobic on aquatic plant substrates.
environmental DNA sequences (Vandenkoornhuyse et al., Some species have characters such as sticky spore appendages,
2002; Jumpponen and Johnson, 2005; Porter et al., 2008). An- indicators of specialization for the marine habitat (Kohlmeyer
other lineage detected by environmental sequences was sub- et al., 2000).
jected to fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The outline of It is interesting that few fungi from early-diverging lineages
a single-celled, flagellated organism was detected (Jones and have been reported from marine environments, perhaps in part
Richards, 2009), but apparently none of these fungi has been because mycologists studying these groups sampled more often
cultured either. Higher-level bacterial taxa have been discov- from fresh water habitats. More recently, an investigation of
ered by environmental sampling, but this is a far less common deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems revealed not only novel spe-
occurrence for fungi (Porter et al., 2008). cies of ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, but also what may be
Fungi form crusts that stabilize desert soils. Crusts usually a previously unknown lineage of chytrids (Le Calvez et al.,
are made up of darkly pigmented ascomycetes, lichens, and 2009).
nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria (States and Christensen, 2001). Most marine fungi are ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, and
Rock-inhabiting fungi occur in the surface and subsurface lay- these include ascomycete and basidiomycete yeasts (Nagahama,
ers of desert rocks. These darkly pigmented ascomycetes are 2006). Some of the yeasts degrade hydrocarbon compounds
members of the classes Dothideomycetes and Arthoniomycetes, present in natural underwater seeps and spills (Davies and
but basidiomycetes and bacteria may occur in the associations Westlake, 1979). Certain ascomycetes are specialists on calcar-
(Kuhlman et al., 2006; Ruibal et al., 2009). Easily cultured eous substrates including mollusk shells and cnidarian reefs.
asexual ascomycetes and other fungi also occur in desert soils, Even a few mushroom-forming basidiomycetes are restricted to
and these include an unusual zygomycete, Lobosporangium marine waters (Binder et al., 2006). Some fungi use other
transversale (Ranzoni, 1968), known only from three isolations marine invertebrates as hosts (Kim and Harvell, 2004), includ-
including Sonoran Desert soil. Yeasts are well known from ing antibiotic producers that live in sponges (Bhadury et al.,
American deserts in association with cacti and flies where they 2006; Pivkin et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2008). A wide variety of
detoxify plant metabolites (Starmer et al., 2006). fungi considered to be terrestrial also are found in marine envi-
ronments. Basidiomycete (i.e., Lacazia loboi) and ascomycete
Freshwater fungi— Certain fungi are adapted for life in fresh yeasts, and other fungi including Basidiobolus ranarum, may
water. More than 3000 species of ascomycetes are specialized occur in marine waters where they infect porpoises and other
for a saprobic life style in freshwater habitats where they have vertebrates (Kurtzman and Fell, 1998; Murdoch et al., 2008;
enhanced growth and sporulation (Shearer et al., 2007; Kirk Morris et al., 2010).
et al., 2008; Shearer and Raja, 2010). The asci are evanescent,
and ascospores have appendages and sticky spore sheaths, that Fungal species— Currently, molecular methods provide
anchor the spores to potential substrates in the aquatic environ- large numbers of characters for use in phylogenetic species dis-
ment. Conidia have several dispersal strategies, and these crimination (e.g., Kohn, 2005; Giraud et al., 2008). In the past,
are designated as Ingoldian (Fig. 2) and aero-aquatic (Fig. 3) biologists relied primarily on phenotype for species delimita-
conidia. Ingoldian conidia are sigmoidal, branched, or tetraradi- tion, and most of the formally described species known today
ate and attach to plants and other material in the water. The were based on morphology. In addition, mating tests have been
conidia float on foam that accumulates at the banks of streams, used to distinguish so-called biological species, especially
especially during heavy runoff, and when the bubbles burst, the among heterothallic basidiomycetes (Anderson and Ullrich,
spores may be dispersed for great distances from the water and 1979; Petersen, 1995). The ability to mate, however, may be an
into trees, where they can be isolated from water-filled tree ancestral character. For example, Turner et al. (2010) found
holes (Bandoni, 1981; Descals and Moralejo, 2001; Gönczöl evidence that fungi have evolved strong barriers to mating when
and Révay, 2003). Aero-aquatic fungi have multicellular, often they have sympatric rather than allopatric distributions. Distant
tightly helical conidia with air spaces to make them buoyant on populations would not have had strong selective pressure
the surface of slower-moving waters (Fisher, 1977). against hybridization, thereby avoiding production of progeny
Other, less obviously modified fungi are present in water, less fit than conspecific progeny (e.g., Garbelotto et al., 2007;
and some of these are active in degrading leaves in streams Stireman et al., 2010). This phenomenon, known as reinforce-
after the heavy autumn leaf fall. A few specialized freshwater ment, helps to explain how fungi from different continents can
basidiomycetes also are known, and several have branched mate in the laboratory but never in nature and is an argument in
conidia similar to those of the Ingoldian ascomycetes. Flagel- favor of recognizing species by phylogenetics. A number of re-
lated fungi occur in aquatic habitats, including Chytridiomy- searchers have recognized species using “phylogenetic species
cota, Blastocladiomycota, and Monoblepharomycota (James recognition” criteria (Taylor et al., 2000). The operational phy-
et al., 2006). Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the recently logenetic method is based on a “concordance of multiple gene
described amphibian killer, is an aquatic chytrid (Longcore genealogies,” and in addition to discriminating species, the
et al., 1999). Members of Neocallimastigomycota also live in a method indicates whether fungal populations actually exchange
specialized largely aquatic environment, the gut of vertebrate genes in nature (Taylor et al., 2000; Fisher et al., 2002; Dettman
herbivores, where they are essential for digestion of cellulosic et al., 2006; Jacobson et al., 2006).
substrates. The use of phylogenetic species criteria results in recognition
of more species than those delimited by morphological charac-
Marine fungi— Marine waters provide a habitat for certain ters. For example, work on Neurospora species resulted in the
specialized fungi (Kohlmeyer and Volkmann-Kohlmeyer, discovery of 15 species within five previously recognized species
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THE FUNGI: 1, 2, 3 … 5.1 MILLION SPECIES?1

It is important to note that there was broad participation and,

Known fungal species— The Dictionary of Fungi (Kirk

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