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  • Review Article
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The biodiversity, genomics, ecology and evolution of mushroom-forming fungi

Nature Reviews Biodiversity volume 2, pages 24–39 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

The class Agaricomycetes represents the mushroom-forming fungi; it is a diverse group within the Basidiomycota with an evolutionary history spanning over 350 million years. Interest in Agaricomycetes has grown considerably over the past decades because of their important roles in nature, their developmental biology, and their use in green technologies and medicine. In this Review, we discuss how genomics approaches have contributed to important breakthroughs in understanding their ecology, evolution, development and conservation. We also explore the central challenges constraining further research. We postulate that the surge in omics exploration of Agaricomycetes over the past decade will be followed by a postgenomic era combining experimental, reverse genetics, ecological and functional genomics tools, helping to resolve the recalcitrant questions surrounding the complex biology of these fungi.

Key points

  • The class Agaricomycetes is a taxonomically and functionally diverse group of fungi with >350 million years of evolutionary history.

  • They are among the most important recyclers of dead plant biomass and are mutualistic partners of woody plants.

  • A robust phylogenetic framework allows reconstruction of ancestral morphologies and lifestyles with high confidence.

  • Agaricomycete genomics has advanced tremendously in the past decade. Further progress will require a shift to postgenomic and functional approaches.

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Fig. 1: The evolutionary age and morphologies of Agaricomycetes.
Fig. 2: The ecological diversity of Agaricomycetes.
Fig. 3: Species diversity in Agaricomycetes.
Fig. 4: The evolution of Agaricomycetes.
Fig. 5: Key traits and associated genomic trends in the Agaricomycetes.

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Acknowledgements

GBIF, UNITE and MycoBank are acknowledged for assistance with occurrence and bibliographic data for species descriptions. L.G.N. was supported by the European Research Council (grant no. 101086900) and the National Research Development and Innovation Office (grant no. OTKA 142188). S.B. is supported by NSF IOS-PBI 2029168. Z.M. was supported by the Janos Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (grant no. BO/00269/24/8). F.M.M. is funded by the National Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in the Arid Region, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China (grant no. 23YFFA0013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    László G. Nagy & Zsolt Merényi

  2. Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    László G. Nagy

  3. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Sara Branco

  4. Functional Ecology, Biology Department, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Dimitrios Floudas

  5. Biology Department, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

    David S. Hibbett

  6. Department of Microbiology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Lotus Lofgren

  7. Université de Lorraine, INRAE, UMR Interactions Arbres/Microorganismes, Centre INRA Grand Est — Nancy, Champenoux, France

    Francis Martin

  8. The National Key Laboratory of Ecological Security and Sustainable Development in Arid Region, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

    Francis Martin

  9. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Jonathan M. Plett

  10. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Anne Pringle

  11. Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Anne Pringle

  12. Department of Trait Diversity and Function, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, UK

    Torda Varga

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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of the article. Z.M and L.G.N. researched data for the article. L.G.N. contributed the vision and coordinated the writing of the article. All authors reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to László G. Nagy.

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A.P. is vice president of Mushroom Observer, a US non-profit dedicated to cataloguing fungal mushroom biodiversity. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nagy, L.G., Branco, S., Floudas, D. et al. The biodiversity, genomics, ecology and evolution of mushroom-forming fungi. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 2, 24–39 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00107-z

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