Genome sequencing and assembly of the termite fungal cultivar Termitomyces sp. (two strains). Termitomyces sp.

Termitomyces is a genus of basidiomycete fungi belonging to the family Lyophyllaceae. There are about 30 species in the genus, which are maintained as monocultures by a subfamiliy of termites, the Macrotermitinae. Throughout the evolutionary history of Macrotermitinae, the partnership with five major clades of Termitomyces has remained obligate, as no macrotermitine termite is known to have abandoned fungus farming or to rear other fungi than Termitomyces. However, the small number of reference (type) cultures available from culture collections and the limited taxonomic knowledge of their anamorphs’ (and teleomorphs’) morphological variability are greatly challenging species identification. Thus, we sequenced the genomes of two environmental isolates to facilitate future studies.

鸡枞菌属（Termitomyces）是隶属于离褶伞科（Lyophyllaceae）的担子菌属。该属共计约30个物种，均由白蚁类群中的大白蚁亚科（Macrotermitinae）进行单菌种培养维持。在大白蚁亚科的整个演化历史中，其与鸡枞菌属五大主要演化支的共生关系始终为专性共生：目前尚未发现任何大白蚁亚科白蚁放弃真菌种植行为，或是转而饲养鸡枞菌属以外的其他真菌。然而，当前菌种保藏机构可获取的参考（模式）培养物数量稀少，且学界对其无性态（及有性态）的形态变异的分类学认知不足，这极大地增加了物种鉴定的难度。因此，本研究对两株环境分离菌株进行了基因组测序，以推动后续相关研究的开展。