Comparative Mitogenomic Analysis Reveals Intraspecific, Interspecific Variations and Genetic Diversity of Medical Fungus Ganoderma

Abstract

Ganoderma species are widely distributed in the world with high diversity. Some species are considered to be pathogenic fungi while others are used as traditional medicine in Asia. In this study, we sequenced and assembled four Ganoderma complete mitogenomes, including G. subamboinense s118, G. lucidum s37, G. lingzhi s62, and G. lingzhi s74. The sizes of the four mitogenomes ranged from 50,603 to 73,416 bp. All Ganoderma specimens had a full set of core protein-coding genes (PCGs), and the rps3 gene of Ganoderma species was detected to be under positive or relaxed selection. We found that the non-conserved PCGs, which encode RNA polymerases, DNA polymerases, homing endonucleases, and unknown functional proteins, are dynamic within and between Ganoderma species. Introns were thought to be the main contributing factor in Ganoderma mitogenome size variation (p < 0.01). Frequent intron loss/gain events were detected within and between Ganoderma species. The mitogenome of G. lucidum s26 gained intron P637 in the cox3 gene compared with the other two G. lucidum mitogenomes. In addition, some rare introns in Ganoderma were detected in distinct Basidiomycetes, indicating potential gene transfer events. Comparative mitogenomic analysis revealed that gene arrangements also varied within and between Ganoderma mitogenomes. Using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods with a combined mitochondrial gene dataset, phylogenetic analyses generated identical, well-supported tree topologies for 71 Agaricomycetes species. This study reveals intraspecific and interspecific variations of the Ganoderma mitogenomes, which promotes the understanding of the origin, evolution, and genetic diversity of Ganoderma species.