comparative analysis thesis pdf

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• Comparative Analysis

What It Is and Why It's Useful

Comparative analysis asks writers to make an argument about the relationship between two or more texts. Beyond that, there's a lot of variation, but three overarching kinds of comparative analysis stand out:

• Coordinate (A ↔ B): In this kind of analysis, two (or more) texts are being read against each other in terms of a shared element, e.g., a memoir and a novel, both by Jesmyn Ward; two sets of data for the same experiment; a few op-ed responses to the same event; two YA books written in Chicago in the 2000s; a film adaption of a play; etc. 
• Subordinate (A  → B) or (B → A ): Using a theoretical text (as a "lens") to explain a case study or work of art (e.g., how Anthony Jack's The Privileged Poor can help explain divergent experiences among students at elite four-year private colleges who are coming from similar socio-economic backgrounds) or using a work of art or case study (i.e., as a "test" of) a theory's usefulness or limitations (e.g., using coverage of recent incidents of gun violence or legislation un the U.S. to confirm or question the currency of Carol Anderson's The Second ).
• Hybrid [A  → (B ↔ C)] or [(B ↔ C) → A] , i.e., using coordinate and subordinate analysis together. For example, using Jack to compare or contrast the experiences of students at elite four-year institutions with students at state universities and/or community colleges; or looking at gun culture in other countries and/or other timeframes to contextualize or generalize Anderson's main points about the role of the Second Amendment in U.S. history.

"In the wild," these three kinds of comparative analysis represent increasingly complex—and scholarly—modes of comparison. Students can of course compare two poems in terms of imagery or two data sets in terms of methods, but in each case the analysis will eventually be richer if the students have had a chance to encounter other people's ideas about how imagery or methods work. At that point, we're getting into a hybrid kind of reading (or even into research essays), especially if we start introducing different approaches to imagery or methods that are themselves being compared along with a couple (or few) poems or data sets.

Why It's Useful

In the context of a particular course, each kind of comparative analysis has its place and can be a useful step up from single-source analysis. Intellectually, comparative analysis helps overcome the "n of 1" problem that can face single-source analysis. That is, a writer drawing broad conclusions about the influence of the Iranian New Wave based on one film is relying entirely—and almost certainly too much—on that film to support those findings. In the context of even just one more film, though, the analysis is suddenly more likely to arrive at one of the best features of any comparative approach: both films will be more richly experienced than they would have been in isolation, and the themes or questions in terms of which they're being explored (here the general question of the influence of the Iranian New Wave) will arrive at conclusions that are less at-risk of oversimplification.

For scholars working in comparative fields or through comparative approaches, these features of comparative analysis animate their work. To borrow from a stock example in Western epistemology, our concept of "green" isn't based on a single encounter with something we intuit or are told is "green." Not at all. Our concept of "green" is derived from a complex set of experiences of what others say is green or what's labeled green or what seems to be something that's neither blue nor yellow but kind of both, etc. Comparative analysis essays offer us the chance to engage with that process—even if only enough to help us see where a more in-depth exploration with a higher and/or more diverse "n" might lead—and in that sense, from the standpoint of the subject matter students are exploring through writing as well the complexity of the genre of writing they're using to explore it—comparative analysis forms a bridge of sorts between single-source analysis and research essays.

Typical learning objectives for single-sources essays: formulate analytical questions and an arguable thesis, establish stakes of an argument, summarize sources accurately, choose evidence effectively, analyze evidence effectively, define key terms, organize argument logically, acknowledge and respond to counterargument, cite sources properly, and present ideas in clear prose.

Common types of comparative analysis essays and related types: two works in the same genre, two works from the same period (but in different places or in different cultures), a work adapted into a different genre or medium, two theories treating the same topic; a theory and a case study or other object, etc.

How to Teach It: Framing + Practice

Framing multi-source writing assignments (comparative analysis, research essays, multi-modal projects) is likely to overlap a great deal with "Why It's Useful" (see above), because the range of reasons why we might use these kinds of writing in academic or non-academic settings is itself the reason why they so often appear later in courses. In many courses, they're the best vehicles for exploring the complex questions that arise once we've been introduced to the course's main themes, core content, leading protagonists, and central debates.

For comparative analysis in particular, it's helpful to frame assignment's process and how it will help students successfully navigate the challenges and pitfalls presented by the genre. Ideally, this will mean students have time to identify what each text seems to be doing, take note of apparent points of connection between different texts, and start to imagine how those points of connection (or the absence thereof)

• complicates or upends their own expectations or assumptions about the texts
• complicates or refutes the expectations or assumptions about the texts presented by a scholar
• confirms and/or nuances expectations and assumptions they themselves hold or scholars have presented
• presents entirely unforeseen ways of understanding the texts

—and all with implications for the texts themselves or for the axes along which the comparative analysis took place. If students know that this is where their ideas will be heading, they'll be ready to develop those ideas and engage with the challenges that comparative analysis presents in terms of structure (See "Tips" and "Common Pitfalls" below for more on these elements of framing).

Like single-source analyses, comparative essays have several moving parts, and giving students practice here means adapting the sample sequence laid out at the " Formative Writing Assignments " page. Three areas that have already been mentioned above are worth noting:

• Gathering evidence : Depending on what your assignment is asking students to compare (or in terms of what), students will benefit greatly from structured opportunities to create inventories or data sets of the motifs, examples, trajectories, etc., shared (or not shared) by the texts they'll be comparing. See the sample exercises below for a basic example of what this might look like.
• Why it Matters: Moving beyond "x is like y but also different" or even "x is more like y than we might think at first" is what moves an essay from being "compare/contrast" to being a comparative analysis . It's also a move that can be hard to make and that will often evolve over the course of an assignment. A great way to get feedback from students about where they're at on this front? Ask them to start considering early on why their argument "matters" to different kinds of imagined audiences (while they're just gathering evidence) and again as they develop their thesis and again as they're drafting their essays. ( Cover letters , for example, are a great place to ask writers to imagine how a reader might be affected by reading an their argument.)
• Structure: Having two texts on stage at the same time can suddenly feel a lot more complicated for any writer who's used to having just one at a time. Giving students a sense of what the most common patterns (AAA / BBB, ABABAB, etc.) are likely to be can help them imagine, even if provisionally, how their argument might unfold over a series of pages. See "Tips" and "Common Pitfalls" below for more information on this front.

Sample Exercises and Links to Other Resources

• Common Pitfalls
• Advice on Timing
• Try to keep students from thinking of a proposed thesis as a commitment. Instead, help them see it as more of a hypothesis that has emerged out of readings and discussion and analytical questions and that they'll now test through an experiment, namely, writing their essay. When students see writing as part of the process of inquiry—rather than just the result—and when that process is committed to acknowledging and adapting itself to evidence, it makes writing assignments more scientific, more ethical, and more authentic. 
• Have students create an inventory of touch points between the two texts early in the process.
• Ask students to make the case—early on and at points throughout the process—for the significance of the claim they're making about the relationship between the texts they're comparing.
• For coordinate kinds of comparative analysis, a common pitfall is tied to thesis and evidence. Basically, it's a thesis that tells the reader that there are "similarities and differences" between two texts, without telling the reader why it matters that these two texts have or don't have these particular features in common. This kind of thesis is stuck at the level of description or positivism, and it's not uncommon when a writer is grappling with the complexity that can in fact accompany the "taking inventory" stage of comparative analysis. The solution is to make the "taking inventory" stage part of the process of the assignment. When this stage comes before students have formulated a thesis, that formulation is then able to emerge out of a comparative data set, rather than the data set emerging in terms of their thesis (which can lead to confirmation bias, or frequency illusion, or—just for the sake of streamlining the process of gathering evidence—cherry picking). 
• For subordinate kinds of comparative analysis , a common pitfall is tied to how much weight is given to each source. Having students apply a theory (in a "lens" essay) or weigh the pros and cons of a theory against case studies (in a "test a theory") essay can be a great way to help them explore the assumptions, implications, and real-world usefulness of theoretical approaches. The pitfall of these approaches is that they can quickly lead to the same biases we saw here above. Making sure that students know they should engage with counterevidence and counterargument, and that "lens" / "test a theory" approaches often balance each other out in any real-world application of theory is a good way to get out in front of this pitfall.
• For any kind of comparative analysis, a common pitfall is structure. Every comparative analysis asks writers to move back and forth between texts, and that can pose a number of challenges, including: what pattern the back and forth should follow and how to use transitions and other signposting to make sure readers can follow the overarching argument as the back and forth is taking place. Here's some advice from an experienced writing instructor to students about how to think about these considerations:

a quick note on STRUCTURE

     Most of us have encountered the question of whether to adopt what we might term the “A→A→A→B→B→B” structure or the “A→B→A→B→A→B” structure.  Do we make all of our points about text A before moving on to text B?  Or do we go back and forth between A and B as the essay proceeds?  As always, the answers to our questions about structure depend on our goals in the essay as a whole.  In a “similarities in spite of differences” essay, for instance, readers will need to encounter the differences between A and B before we offer them the similarities (A d →B d →A s →B s ).  If, rather than subordinating differences to similarities you are subordinating text A to text B (using A as a point of comparison that reveals B’s originality, say), you may be well served by the “A→A→A→B→B→B” structure.  

     Ultimately, you need to ask yourself how many “A→B” moves you have in you.  Is each one identical?  If so, you may wish to make the transition from A to B only once (“A→A→A→B→B→B”), because if each “A→B” move is identical, the “A→B→A→B→A→B” structure will appear to involve nothing more than directionless oscillation and repetition.  If each is increasingly complex, however—if each AB pair yields a new and progressively more complex idea about your subject—you may be well served by the “A→B→A→B→A→B” structure, because in this case it will be visible to readers as a progressively developing argument.

As we discussed in "Advice on Timing" at the page on single-source analysis, that timeline itself roughly follows the "Sample Sequence of Formative Assignments for a 'Typical' Essay" outlined under " Formative Writing Assignments, " and it spans about 5–6 steps or 2–4 weeks. 

Comparative analysis assignments have a lot of the same DNA as single-source essays, but they potentially bring more reading into play and ask students to engage in more complicated acts of analysis and synthesis during the drafting stages. With that in mind, closer to 4 weeks is probably a good baseline for many single-source analysis assignments. For sections that meet once per week, the timeline will either probably need to expand—ideally—a little past the 4-week side of things, or some of the steps will need to be combined or done asynchronously.

What It Can Build Up To

Comparative analyses can build up to other kinds of writing in a number of ways. For example:

• They can build toward other kinds of comparative analysis, e.g., student can be asked to choose an additional source to complicate their conclusions from a previous analysis, or they can be asked to revisit an analysis using a different axis of comparison, such as race instead of class. (These approaches are akin to moving from a coordinate or subordinate analysis to more of a hybrid approach.)
• They can scaffold up to research essays, which in many instances are an extension of a "hybrid comparative analysis."
• Like single-source analysis, in a course where students will take a "deep dive" into a source or topic for their capstone, they can allow students to "try on" a theoretical approach or genre or time period to see if it's indeed something they want to research more fully.
• DIY Guides for Analytical Writing Assignments

• Types of Assignments
• Unpacking the Elements of Writing Prompts
• Formative Writing Assignments
• Single-Source Analysis
• Research Essays
• Multi-Modal or Creative Projects
• Giving Feedback to Students

Assignment Decoder

Comparative Analysis

• First Online: 02 January 2023

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• Kenisha Blair-Walcott 4  

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Education ((SPTE))

Comparative analysis is a multidisciplinary method, which spans a wide cross-section of disciplines (Azarian, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(4), 113–125 (2014)). It is the process of comparing multiple units of study for the purpose of scientific discovery and for informing policy decisions (Rogers, Comparative effectiveness research, 2014). Even though there has been a renewed interest in comparative analysis as a research method over the last decade in fields such as education, it has been used in studies for decades.

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Blair-Walcott, K. (2023). Comparative Analysis. In: Okoko, J.M., Tunison, S., Walker, K.D. (eds) Varieties of Qualitative Research Methods. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04394-9_13

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Home > USC Columbia > Arts and Sciences > Comparative Literature > Comparative Literature Theses and Dissertations

Comparative Literature Theses and Dissertations

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Title of Thesis: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN CARIBBEAN FOLKLORE BETWEEN SAINT LUCIA AND JAMAICA

The Caribbean region possesses a distinctive history and a fascinating fusion of cultures and languages from the African and European diaspora. Preservation of Caribbean folklore and oral tradition continued to be of great importance to scholars. Based on the principle that we live in a patriarchal society, this research paper examined the following question: How are female characters presented in the folklore of the Caribbean, particularly in Saint Lucia and Jamaica? Using a comparative analysis, data was sourced through primary and secondary research of a qualitative nature. Twenty five participants were interviewed from Saint Lucia and Jamaica. The results of this study indicate that although the general presentation of women in Caribbean folklore is negative, Jamaican folklore illustrates the portrayal of female characters from a more positive perspective than Saint Lucian folklore.

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This thesis is informed on a feminist pedagogy and understanding which examines gender inequality and develops from the idea that everything in literature, music, and any other manifestation of popular culture is related in one way or another within the patriarchal system in which we live. The way children, and especially girls, perceive themselves is reinforced by what they read and listen to, and by situations they experience where they live. In the first part of this thesis, Disney’s versions of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast along with the Grimm Brothers’ versions of the same stories (the latter changing its title to The Winter Rose) were used as examples of fairy tale narratives which reinforce gender stereotypes inherent in Puerto Rico’s popular culture. In the second part, Wisin and Yandel’s song Irresistible and Alexis and Fido’s song Energía were used as examples of highly successful reggaeton narratives which then reinforce gender stereotypes inherent in Puerto Rico’s popular culture. This thesis evidences how both forms of popular culture portray and justify in an appealing way ideological structures which promote, among other things, gender constructs and acceptance of violence in society.

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Set within the context of Caribbean literature, this paper deploys New Historicism to posit in its argument that history as used in EdwidgeDanticat’sThe Farming of Bones exposes the socio-political dilemma hindering the Caribbean people from realising a seamless sense of Caribbean-ness. To this end, the study unravels the various layers of Caribbean history to challenge forces that have made the Caribbean people to suffered setbacks, first, in the ways their leaders not only hijacked their nations in terms of bad leadership but by doing so, have set precedence that have continued to hinder the Caribbean people from realising the essence of selfhood. Second, the paper exposes the relational tensions that have created divisions among the Caribbean people. The essence of these is to sustain the argument that Caribbean women writers do not only use their texts as a platform for decrying gender imbalances within patriarchal setting or deploy history as a form of writing back to the domin...

Patricia Mohammed

Written and delivered as the Fifth Anniversary Public Lecture of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, this paper explores first hand lived anecdotes of incidents and ideas that make up the history of Caribbean feminism in the twentieth century

Anna K A S A F I Perkins

Women in French

Elizabeth A McAlister

This essay analyzes Caribbean Creolophone womenʼs speech, para-linguistic sounds, and songs as an underappreciated form of womenʼs self-fashioning. Afro-Creole womenʼs speech developed as a tradition within conditions of fugitivity (Derby 2014; Moten 2008). Fugitive speech here refers to speech and vocalized sounds, meant to be understood only by those in a position to know its meanings, under repressive conditions. Caribbean women use vocal expressions to constitute themselves into collectivities that sustain and support them. This essay firstconsiders the sphere of womenʼs gossip and its metalinguistic sounds, and then the links between gossip and magic that reveal themselves in the ethos of fugitivity and silence in the magico-juridical secret societies in Haiti. Finally, we listen to the noisy, boisterous womenʼs songs in the public street bands called Raras. A final section considers the silences, sufferings, and punishments that men have visited on Creolophone women and the links between silence, para-linguistic sounds, and suffering. This essay builds on Sarah Mantilla Griffinʼs work on Black womenʼs "sonic performatives" in American literature. Griffith argues that black womenʼs writings incorporate soundbased ways of knowing that have contributed to Afro-modernity, but have gone underappreciated (Griffin 2012, vi). I extend her insights to consider the Creolophone sounds, noises, and speech that Haitian women have created to sustain and express themselves and defy male repression.

Emilia De Gyves

Sexuality & Culture

Dr. Karen Carpenter

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Analytical Methods

Chemical characterization and comparative analysis of different parts of cocculus orbiculatus through uhplc-q-tof-ms †.

* Corresponding authors

a Guizhou Engineering Research Center of Industrial Key-technology for Dendrobium Nobile, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou 563000, China E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

b Guiyang Xintian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Guiyang 550000, China

c School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Cocculus orbiculatus (L.) DC. ( C. orbiculatus ) is a medicinal herb valued for its dried roots with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, and other therapeutic properties. Despite its traditional applications, chemical investigations into C. orbiculatus remain limited, focusing predominantly on alkaloids and flavonoids. Furthermore, the therapeutic use of C. orbiculatus predominantly focuses on the roots, leaving the stems, a significant portion of the plant, underutilized. This study employed ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) with in-house and online databases for comprehensive identification of components in various plant parts. Subsequently, untargeted metabolomics was employed to analyze differences in components across different harvest periods and plant sections of C. orbiculatus , aiming to screen for distinct components in different parts of the plant. Finally, metabolomic analysis of the roots and stems, which contribute significantly to the plant's weight, was conducted using chemometrics, including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and heatmaps. A total of 113 components, including alkaloids, flavonoids, and organic acids, were annotated across the root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit, along with numerous previously unreported compounds. Metabolomic analyses revealed substantial differences in components between the root and stem compared to the leaf, flower, and fruit during the same harvest period. PLS-DA and OPLS-DA annotated 10 differentiating components (VIP > 1.5, P < 0.05, FC > 2 or FC < 0.67), with 5 unique to the root and stem, exhibiting lower mass spectrometric responses. This study provided the first characterization of 113 chemical constituents in different parts of C. orbiculatus , laying the groundwork for pharmacological research and advocating for the enhanced utilization of its stem.

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Chemical characterization and comparative analysis of different parts of Cocculus orbiculatus through UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS

X. Wang, M. Wei, L. Qin, D. Tan, F. Wu, J. Xie, D. Wu, A. Liu, J. Wu, X. Wu and Y. He, Anal. Methods , 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D3AY02251J

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• Open access
• Published: 27 May 2024

Genome assembly of M. spongiola and comparative genomics of the genus Morchella provide initial insights into taxonomy and adaptive evolution

• Qing Meng 1 ,
• Zhanling Xie 1 ,
• Hongyan Xu 1 ,
• Jing Guo 2 ,
• Qingqing Peng 1 ,
• Yanyan Li 1 ,
• Jiabao Yang 1 ,
• Deyu Dong 1 ,
• Taizhen Gao 3 &
• Fan Zhang 4  

BMC Genomics volume  25 , Article number:  518 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Morchella spongiola is a highly prized mushroom for its delicious flavor and medical value and is one of the most flourishing, representative, and dominant macrofungi in the Qilian Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau subkingdoms (QTPs). However, the understanding of M. spongiola remains largely unknown, and its taxonomy is ambiguous. In this study, we redescribed a unique species of M. spongiola , i.e., micromorphology, molecular data, genomics, and comparative genomics, and the historical biogeography of M. spongiola were estimated for 182 single-copy homologous genes. A high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of M. spongiola M12-10 was obtained by combining PacBio HiFi data and Illumina sequencing technologies; it was approximately 57.1 Mb (contig N50 of 18.14 Mb) and contained 9775 protein-coding genes. Comparative genome analysis revealed considerable conservation and unique characteristics between M. spongiola M12-10 and 32 other Morchella species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that M. spongiola M12-10 is similar to the M. prava / Mes -7 present in sandy soil near rivers, differentiating from black morels ~ 43.06 Mya (million years ago), and diverged from M. parva / Mes -7 at approximately 12.85 Mya (in the Miocene epoch), which is closely related to the geological activities in the QTPs (in the Neogene). Therefore, M. spongiola is a unique species rather than a synonym of M. vulgaris / Mes -5, which has a distinctive grey-brown sponge-like ascomata. This genome of M. spongiola M12-10 is the first published genome sequence of the species in the genus Morchella from the QTPs, which could aid future studies on functional gene identification, germplasm resource management, and molecular breeding efforts, as well as evolutionary studies on the Morchella taxon in the QTPs.

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Introduction

Species of Morchella Dill. ex Pers. (Ascomycota, Pezizomycetes) are highly sought-after and prized edible fungi. They are not only delicious in flavor but also contain a biologically active substance that regulates immunity, anti-fatigue, antioxidant, antibacterial, antitumor [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], etc. Popular research aims have included taxonomy, medicinal efficacy, artificial cultivation, evolution of sexual reproduction, changes in chromosome ploidy, mating systems, transformation of reproductive type, development of zygotes, species evolution, and the historical biogeography of Morchella species [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Over 80 species-level lineages of Morchella have been inferred using molecular phylogenetics in recent years; the distribution of Morchella exhibits a high level of cryptic speciation and provincialism due to phenotypic plasticity and unreliable morphological species recognition [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Therefore, some of Morchella ’s early described species appear to correspond to a variety of taxonomic systems. As with other famous Morchella species, Morchella spongiola Boud. has important ecological functions and high commercial value around the world and its distribution is restricted to temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, including Armenia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Norway, Pakistan, Slovakia, China, and Ukraine [ 6 , 12 , 13 ]. Meanwhile, M. spongiola is a well-known local wild economic product that is widely distributed in the Qilian Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau subkingdoms (QTPs), where it grows abundantly on sandy soils, buckthorn woods near rivers, Populus przewalskii Maxim. forestry [ 14 ], ect. However, the taxonomy of M. spongiola is controversial because of the lack of complete morphological, molecular, and genomic data.

Among the thousands of species recorded in the fungal genome project, the genome project of Morchella first started in 2014. The genomes of M. importuna / Mel -10, M. sextelata / Mel -6, M. septimelata , and M. crassipes have already been published, and the JGI database also contains genomic records of 35 phylogenetic Morchella species [ 13 ]. The genomic sequencing of phylogenetic Morchella species has been helpful for specific genetic, phylogenetic, metabolic, and evolution studies [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Additionally, genome sequencing analysis promotes a further understanding of the polarity, taxonomy, life cycles, and nutritional ecotypes of fungi, such as Tuber melanosporum [ 20 ], Laccaria bicolor [ 21 ], Stropharia rugosoannulata [ 22 ], Floccularia luteovirens [ 23 ], and Morchella crassipes [ 24 ]. However, the inability to record a whole living history under laboratory conditions in earlier periods led to the stagnation of many biological studies on the Morchella species; these genomic studies were delayed more than those of other species. The genome of Morchella spongiola has not yet been published, which has hampered wide comparative genomic analysis across different fungal species. Here, we report a draft genome sequence of M. spongiola strain M12-10 using single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing. We then annotated the genome, conducted a comparative genomic analysis, and redescribed the taxonomy of M. spongiola based on morphological, molecular biological, genomic, and comparative genomic analyses. This valuable genomic resource will aid future studies on the evolution of M. spongiola and the genus Morchella , as well as studies on its evolutionary history.

Materials and methods

Sampling information.

Wild Morchella were collected from the Baokou River in the Qilian Mountains located on the QTPs annually in early May, with the GPS coordinates exhibited in Fig.  1 A. The ascocarps of each collection were photographed in situ, and the altitude, surrounding vegetation, and substrate composition were documented. Dr. Xie Zhanling and Dr. Xu Hongyan undertook the formal identification of the plant material, and the identification of the plant material follows https://www.cfh.ac.cn/ . Voucher specimens were deposited in Extreme Environment Microbiology Laboratory, Qinghai University, Xining, China.

Information on M. spongiola M12-10. ( A ) Schematic diagram of sample collection points; ( B-C ) Habitat; ( D ) Ascomata; ( E ) Ascospores; ( F ) Mycelia; ( G ) Micromorphology of mycelia. ( H ) Phylogenetic tree of Morchella spongiola and 4 other fungal species based on Bayesian analysis of ITS gene sequences, with nodes annotated if they were supported by ≥ 0.60 Bayesian posterior probability. * Sequences submitted by our team

Morphological analyses and molecular identification

Macroanatomical features were observed and documented in detail from fresh ascocarps in various developmental stages, based on methods described in Loizides et al. [ 25 ]. Pure culture isolations were obtained in potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium, from both ascospores and sterile ascocarp tissue of specimen M12-10. Macro- and micromorphological features were observed from the spore-isolated strain, which was inoculated on PDA and incubated at 25 °C, in both dark and daylight conditions. The terminology of the mycelium micromorphological features follows Qiao [ 26 ]. The internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear rDNA locus (ITS), nuclear large subunit (nrLSU), the largest and second-largest subunits of RNA polymerase II ( RPB 1 and RPB 2, respectively), and translation elongation factor 1 alpha ( TEF 1) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Phylogenetic analyses based on methods described in Meng et al. [ 27 ].

Genome assembly and assessment

Vegetative mycelia of M12-10 were cultivated in PDA medium in the dark at 25 °C for 5 days and then collected for genome sequencing. For genome sequencing, genomic DNA was extracted using a modified cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) procedure. Libraries for single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing were constructed with an insert size of 20 kb using the SMRTbell Template Prep kit 1.0 (Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, CA, USA). Subsequently, the genome of M12-10 was sequenced using the PacBio Sequel platform using single-molecule real-time (SMRT) technology and Illumina NovaSeq PE150 from Genedenovo Biotechnology Co., Ltd (Guangzhou, China).

For genome assembly, the clean reads were corrected and assembled with the MECAT. To evaluate the completeness of the assembled genome, a Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) analysis was conducted using BUSCO v2.0 to search the assembled genome against the fungi_odb9 database, which comprises 290 cores conserved orthologs in total.

Genome annotation

Genome component prediction included the prediction of coding genes, repetitive sequences, and noncoding RNAs. The available steps proceeded as follows: the Augustus 2.7 program was employed to retrieve the related coding genes; the interspersed repetitive sequences were predicted using RepeatMasker; the tandem repeats were analyzed using TRF (tandem repeats finder); transfer RNA (tRNA) genes were predicted with tRNAscan-SE; ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes were analyzed using RNAmmer; and sRNA, snRNA, and miRNA genes were predicted via BLAST against the Rfam database [ 28 ].

We used three databases to predict gene functions: GO (Gene Ontology), KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes), KOG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups) [ 29 ]. Meanwhile, biosynthetic gene clusters such as terpene synthases, nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), and polyketide synthases (PKSs) in the M. spongiola M12-10 genome were identified via antiSMASH v5.0 [ 30 ].

Comparative genomic analysis

All-vs-all BLASTP searches (with an E value cutoff of 10 − 5) were performed to identify paralogous or orthologous gene pairs, and query cov 30% were considered to be interspecies homologs according to the results of Diamond matching. Orthologous genes were clustered using OrthoMCL. To understand how gene families differ among species, a Venn diagram analysis was performed on the basis of the gene family number information to understand the common or unique genes between species. The upper number in each section represents the number of gene families, and the lower number represents the number of genes. BLASTN was used to identify synteny among the Elata clade phylospecies M. importuna / Mel -10 and M. spongiola M12-10, with the following parameters for genome-wide collinearity analyses: -evalue 1 e–5 -perc_identity 80. To identify the synteny relationships between three Esculenta clades phylospecies M. spongiola M12-10, M. parva / Mes -7, and M. vulgaris / Mes -5, the longest coding DNA sequences (CDS) for each gene were identified in these three morels species based on MCscan. ClusterProfile v3.14.0 was used to conduct a GO and KEGG enrichment analysis with unique M. spongiola genes. For each species genome, Diamond was used in conjunction with OrthoMCL to identify homologous genes across species.

The genus Morchella subgenome A was used to conduct a comparative genomic analysis. Gene families in M. spongiola M12-10 and 32 morels species (Table S1 ) were identified using OrthoFinder v2.5.151. Multiple sequence alignments of 182 single-copy homologous genes were performed using MAFFT v7.20552. We subsequently reconstructed the relationships of Morchella and related taxa on PhyloSuite v1.2.2. We used MrBayes v3.2.6 for BI phylogenetic analyses and ModelFinder to generate the best model. The uncorrelated lognormal relaxed molecular clock and the Yule speciation prior set were used to estimate the divergence time and the corresponding credibility intervals via BEAUti. Divergence times were estimated using MCMCTREE in BEAST 1, and secondary calibration points were obtained from BEAUti: Ascomycota/Basidiomycota (467.24-666.82 Mya), Morchella / Verpa (213.96-347.77 Mya), Rufobrunnea clades/ Morchella (121.79-194.71 Mya), Esculenta clades/ Elata clades (98.74-152.95 Mya), Esculenta clades (49.19–93.03 Mya), and Elata clades (70.49-109.89 Mya) [ 9 , 10 ]. The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis was set to 100 million generations, with sampling parameters for every 1000 generations. After discarding the first 10,000 (10%) trees as burn-in, the samples were summarized in a maximum clade credibility tree in TreeAnnotator v2.6.6 using a PP limit of 0.50 and summarizing the mean node heights. The means and 95% higher posterior densities (HPDs) of the age estimates were obtained from the combined outputs using Tracer. FigTree v1.4.2 and iTOL ( https://itol.embl.de/ ) were used to visualize the resulting tree and to obtain the means and 95% HPD. A 95% HPD marks the shortest interval that contains 95% of the values sampled [ 31 ].

Strain isolation, identification, and redescription

Every year at the beginning of May, we collected wild morel near the Baokou River in the Qilian Mountains of Qinghai Province (Fig.  1 A). Habitat: Near riverbeds, beaches, and sandy beaches, on soil under mixed forests dominated by Populus przewalskii Maxim., Salix babylonica , Hippophae rhamnoides L., Rosa xanthina Lindl , Poa crymophila cv. Qinghai, Poa pratensis L. cv. Qinghai (Fig.  1 B-C).

Macroanatomical features description: Ascomata 22–45 mm high. Pileus 20–40 mm high × 10–15 mm wide; conical to bluntly conical; pitted and ridged. Ridges glabrous or finely tomentose; pallid to hazel when young, becoming dark grayish at maturity. Pits primarily vertically elongated; glabrous; brownish to yellowish tan. Stipe 20–25 mm high; 10–15 mm wide; more or less equal or sometimes basally (Fig.  1 D). Micromorphological description: Ascospores (9.78–) 13.57–18.62 (–23.54) × (4.87–) 7.21–10.40 (–10.90) µm, Me = 15.74 × 8.57 μm, Qm = 1.83 ( n  = 50); elliptical; with irregular longitudinal and interconnecting transverse ridges; contents homogeneous; 8-spored; cylindrical; hyaline (Fig.  1 E). The Morchella spongiola strain M12-10 was isolated from a typical M. spongiola fruiting body. Using a light microscope, the hyphae of M12-10 were hyaline (d = 15.01 ± 2.65 μm, n  = 100), septate, and branching, and the clamp connections of hyphae were observed clearly, with no spores (Fig.  1 F-G). The ITS sequence obtained with primers ITS1 and ITS4 was used to determine the identity in a BLAST nucleotide search of NCBI and exactly matched the ITS region of Morchella spongiola with 98% similarity. The search results indicated that strain M12-10 was a pure culture strain of M. spongiola (Fig.  1 H). GenBank: ITS = MK937635; nrLSU = MW692181; TEF 1 = OR351230; RPB 1 = OR351231; RPB 2 = OR351232.

Characteristics of the Morchella spongiola genome

Third-generation-long fragment sequencing and two-mate-pair Illmuina jumping sequencing were used to de novo assemble the genomes of M. spongiola M12-10; we obtained 396,318 raw reads and 6132.9 million bases. The genome sequence was 51.7 Mb with a maximum sequence length of 4.09 Mb (Table  1 ); it consisted of 34 contigs with an N 50 of 1.81 Mb and a GC content of 47.44% (Fig.  2 ). The final de novo genomic assembly results were submitted to NCBI, with the public accession number SRR18443859 (BioSample: SAMN26880165; BioProject: PRJNA781342). For genome composition, 9775 coding genes, 298 tRNA genes (Fig.  2 hollow circles), 43 rRNA genes (Fig.  2 hollow squares), 16 miRNA genes (Fig.  2 solid circles), and 18 snRNA (Fig.  2 hollow triangle) genes were predicted. The total number of DNA and RNA transposon elements (TEs) was 2177, with a length of 14,161,838 bp, accounting for 27.39% of the genome size. A total of 20 DNA TEs were detected, mainly Helitron and MITE, with numbers of 359 and 146, accounting for 13.97% and 1.32% of the length of the TEs, respectively. Gypsy (LTR) and L1 (LINE) were the main RNA TEs, with numbers of 550 and 80, covering 10.34% and 0.16% of the length of the TEs, respectively (Table  2 ). Overall, 1642 out of 1705 (96.31%) complete genes were identified using BUSCO with a 0.64% duplicate ratio represented in the assembled genome. Together, these results indicate that the M. spongiola M12-10 genome data were of high quality and sufficient for subsequent analyses.

Circos plot of the M. spongiola M12-10 genome assembly. From the exterior to the interior, they are Chromosome (1–34), Repeat sequence density distribution (red), gene density distribution (blue), tRNA (hollow circles), rRNA (hollow squares), snRNA (hollow triangle), miRNA (solid circles), covariate linkage (number alignment results > 10 kb), respectively

Functional annotations of Morchella spongiola genes

The results of the genome functional annotation are summarized in Table  1 . All 9775 predicted genes were annotated in multiple public databases. A total of 7535 genes had homology to genes in at least one database, accounting for approximately 77.08% of the predicted genes.

In the GO classification analysis, the top five categories were cellular process, metabolic process, cell-cell part, catalytic activity, and organelle (Fig.  3 A). In the KEGG pathway annotation results showed that 745, 296, 207, and 108 genes were enriched in the pathways of metabolic process, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, biosynthesis of amino acids, and biosynthesis of antibiotics, respectively (Fig.  3 B). Among the KOG categories, the number of genes related to posttranslational modification, protein turnover, chaperones (O), signal transduction mechanisms (T), RNA processing and modification (A), and intracellular trafficking, secretion, and vesicular transport (U) was greater than that of the other function-related genes (Fig.  3 C). Antismash results from predicted genes found that the M. spongiola M12-10 genome had nine secondary metabolite clusters, which were rich in Nrps-like (nonribosomal peptide synthetase-like fragment) (33%), t1PKS (polyketides type 1) (11%), terpene (22%), indole (11%), NRP-metallophore (nonribosomal peptide metallophores) (11%), and fungal-RiPP (fungal RiPP with POP or UstH peptidase types and a modification) (11%) (Fig.  3 D).

Gene function annotation of the M. spongiola M12-10 genome. ( A ) GO enrichment analysis of annotated genes in M12-10. ( B ) KEGG pathway annotation of the genome of M12-10. ( C ) KOG function classification of annotated genes in M12-10. ( D ) Number and distribution of secondary metabolite gene clusters in the M12-10 genome

We conducted a comparative genomic analysis of the M. spongiola M12-10 genome against 32 other Morchella species. The genome size of the M. spongiola M12-10 genome was similar to that of the other Esculenta clade phylospecies M. dunensis / Mes -17 (Fig.  4 A). The results showed that 266 essential families containing 21,678 genes were shared by 33 taxa, followed by 825 families containing 19,550 genes that were shared by 12 Esculenta clades, and 576 families containing 19,550 genes that were shared by 19 Elata clades; there were 24, 140, and 877 species-specific families containing 30, 925, and 140 genes in the three classifications, respectively (Fig.  4 B-D). Notably, 925 unique genes in M. spongiola M12-10 were analyzed using multiple functional databases. Functional analysis showed that two unique genes encoded proteins related to molecular function regulation, transcription factor activity, and protein binding (Fig.  4 E, F). GO enrichment analysis revealed that the unique M. spongiola M12-10 genes were significantly enriched in the following terms: biological regulation, response to stimulus, signaling, growth, reproduction, and reproductive process, and two unique genes encoded proteins related to molecular function regulation, transcription factor activity, and protein binding (Fig.  4 E). KEGG analysis revealed that these unique genes were enriched in several pathways: starch and sucrose metabolism, carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and glycan biosynthesis and metabolism. Most genes that were only present in M. spongiola M12-10 were significantly enriched in signal transduction, such as the phosphatidylinositol signaling system (Fig.  4 F).

Genome comparison analysis between M. spongiola M12-10 and 32 other Morchella phylospecies. ( A ) Genome assembly size of 33 Morchella phylospecies. ( B-D ) Petal diagram of the gene families in 33 species. The middle circle is the number of gene families shared by all species, and the number of unique gene families is on the side. ( E ) GO terms of M. spongiola M12-10. A total of 21,678 genes (gray) and 925 unique genes (blue) were functionally interpreted. ( F ) KEGG classification analysis of M. spongiola M12-10

The genomic collinearity analysis showed that several chromosomal segments in the M. importuna / Mel -10 genomes were condensed into one segment in M. spongiola M12-10, with some inversions (Fig.  5 A). Some orthologs in M. spongiola M12-10 had many-to-one relationships. At least two query genes in M. spongiola M12-10 matched the same ortholog in the reference species. Notably, significant genomic regions of M. spongiola M12-10 could not be collinearly coupled with those in the Morchella genome, supported by a 23.59% with M. importuna / Mel -10 collinearity rate (the ratio of colinear ortholog pairs to all ortholog pairs), which was less than that between M12-10 and M. vulgaris / Mes -5 (94.61%), and M. prava / Mes -7 (95.30%), the results indicated that M. spongiola M12-10 is phylogenetically distant from those three morel species (Fig.  5 B). In addition, despite the high degree of collinearity of most scaffolds, the genomes of M12-10 and M. vulgaris / Mes -5 had undergone some complex interchromosomal rearrangements. Similar rearrangements also occurred comparing M12-10 and M. prava / Mes -7 chromosomes, which may suggest that chromosome rearrangement in M. spongiola M12-10 during evolution. However, this phenomenon could also be caused by the low quality of M. spongiola M12-10 genome sequence data.

Dual synteny plot showing genome collinearity. ( A ) Different colored lines were used to connect the orthologous pairs between M. spongiola M12-10 and M. importuna / Mel -10; ( B ) Syntenic analysis via comparisons the longest CDS of M. spongiola M12-10 with M. parva , M. spongiola M12-10 with M. vulgaris . The values on the right are collinearity rate. Fruiting bodies of Morchella species downloaded from Mycocosm Portals (doe.gov)

Phylogenetic analysis and evolution of the Genus Morchella

A phylogenetic and time-calibrated phylogenetic tree was constructed using 182 single-copy orthologs from 33 Morchella phylospecies, and the topology of the tree was consistent with our current understanding of the relationships among these taxa (Fig.  6 ). The phylogenetic analysis indicated that M. spongiola M12-10 is a distinct species, similar in age to the Esculenta -like stature phyolspecies M. parva / Mes -7. The divergence time of the genus Morchella was approximately to be 274.04 million years ago (Mya) (HPD% 272.03–275.96). The Morchella species diverged into three clades; the first clade diverged an estimated 154.06 Mya ( Rufobrunnea clade, 95% HPD 152.14-156.02), closely related to the Triassic junction; the second clade diverged an estimated 101.9 Mya ( Esculenta and Elata clades, 95% HPD 87.25–115.00), closely related to the Late Cretaceous junction; the Esculenta clades diverged 73.77 Mya (95% HPD 65.03–103.87) and the Elata clades diverged 84.54 Mya (95% HPD 50.58–97.42). M. spongiola M12-10 was allied with another Esculenta clade, M. parva / Mes -7, both of which are older species that were separated by approximately 12.85 Mya (95% HPD 0.25–17.45), when the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau experienced the first historical geological uplift.

Phylogenetic chronogram showing the evolutionary dating time of the genus Morchella using 33 phylospecies. The tree was estimated using Bayesian analysis of 182 single-copy orthologous genes in the MCMC tree. Fruiting bodies of Morchella species downloaded from Mycocosm Portals (doe.gov)

Morchella spongiola genome

In this study, we generated a representative assembly for a high-quality Morchella spongiola M12-10 draft genome. The 1k genome projects and other researchers have sequenced 35 Morchella species, all of which have been released on the JGI website, playing a significant role in promoting related scientific research [ 25 ]. The genome of M. spongiola M12-10 detailed in this paper is the first reported genome of this species. Generally, M. spongiola is slightly larger than M. septentrionalis (51.47 Mb), M. dunensis (51.33 Mb), and M. esculenta (51.15 Mb) in genome size. The sizes were different in the Gypsy (LTR) and Tad1 (LINE) analyses, with numbers of 550 and 214, covering 10.34% and 33.00% of the length of the TEs of M. spongiola , in contrast to 29.30% and 3.73% for M. crassipes , respectively. A total of 9775 genes were annotated in the M. spongiola M12-10 genome, which is slightly different from the number of genes annotated in the genomes of M. crassipes (11,565 genes), M. sextelata (9550 genes), and M. importuna (16,099 genes). This genome sequence will aid germplasm management, molecular breeding, and pharmaceutical and ecological studies on plants in this family. M. spongiola M12-10 is one of the most highly priced edible mushrooms and a rich source of bioactive substances, with numerous beneficial medicinal properties, such as biologically active polysaccharides, polyphenols, protein hydrolysates, γ-aminobutyric acid, sterols, flavonoids, furan compounds, mushroom alcohols, volatile substances, and tocopherols [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Previously, a platelet colony inhibitor with potency 2–3 times higher than that of aspirin and a melanogenesis inhibitor that inhibits tyrosinase were isolated from the fermentation broth of Morchella , but the key roles of the biologically active substances are not clear [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. In the genome of M. spongiola M12-10, we detected multiple clusters of secondary metabolite genes, such as terpene, indole, fungal-RiPP, which means that there is potential antioxidant activity. Additional studies are needed to clarify the functions of these candidate genes and the molecular mechanisms of biologically active substances.

Phylogenetic analysis

Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the M. spongiola M12-10 and M. parva form a monophyletic branch. Surprisingly, the name M. spongiola was described by Richard et al. [ 11 ] to be a later synonym of the well-established and epityfied taxon M. vulgaris , whereas M. parva also probably corresponds to what has been labeled ‘‘ M. vulgaris ’’. However, there are significant morphological variations in the hymenophore (Fig.  5 B). M. spongiola is primarily distributed in forests containing Ulmaceae Mirb., Populus tomentosa Carr, and Hippophae rhamnoides L., with occasional occurrences alongside herbaceous plants and sporadically with other plant species. M. spongiola can typically be recognized by its sponge-like appearance, contorted, asymmetrical, and highly irregular pits, as well as bluntly rounded ridges that tend to darken as the fungus matures. In contrast, the micromorphological ascospores of M. spongiola strain M12-10 measure (9.78-) 13.57–18.62 (-23.54) × (4.87-) 7.21–10.40 (-10.90) µm, while those of M. prava range from (16-) 17–21 (-24) x (8-) 10–12 (-13) µ [ 44 ], indicating a notable difference in spore size between the two species. Specifically, M. vulgaris seems to have a more restricted distribution and is currently considered narrowly endemic from Europe to India and China, primarily associating with poplar and pine trees [ 42 ]. M. prava , a species commonly found within the latitudes of 43–50°N in North America, can be distinguished by its esculenta-like appearance, characterized by a twisted stature, contorted pits, and asymmetrical or irregular ridges [ 43 , 44 ]. Therefore, these mixed features are considered significant enough to propose a difference among the three species. Most Morchella species appear to exhibit continental endemism, provincialism, and cryptic speciation, which has greatly facilitated the reconstruction of their historical biogeography. It is only through the use of multilocus analyses, such as population genetics, morphological, developmental, and behavioral analyses, chemotaxonomy, cytology, ultrastructural and reproductive studies, integrative approaches, and careful evaluations of all lines of evidence that a number of closely related and insufficiently clarified lineages in Morchella have been identified [ 10 ].

The historical biogeography of M. spongiola in QTPs

Divergence time estimation showed that M. spongiola M12-10 and M. parva diverged from a recent common ancestor at approximately 12.85 Mya (in the Miocene epoch), while M. vulgaris and M. parva - M. spongiola M12-10 diverged approximately 16.13 Mya (Late Oligocene). Previously, it is speculated that Morchella originated in western North America during the Late Jurassic period and diverged into the basal lineage M. rufobrunnea [ 11 , 45 , 46 ]. A further study by Loizides et al. [ 25 ] revealing that the origin of the two Rufobrunnea clade phylospecies, M. anatolica , and M. rufobrunnea , is Mediterranean rather than North American or Asian. In our study, M. anatolica and M. rufobrunnea are also the earliest-diverging lineages and the speciation of M. spongiloa is strongly linked to the first uplift event of the QTPs. Tectonic activity and climate change during geological periods can not only create barriers to geographic isolation that contribute to species differentiation and diversity but can also expand species ranges and increase biological exchange between regions by reducing barriers to biological dispersal [ 47 , 48 , 49 ]. We therefore presume that the M. vulgaris was closer ancestor species of M. spongiola and M. parva , and the paleogeological changes of QTPs were most likely the key factors responsible for the diverging and diversifying morphological appearance of the Morchella spongiola .

Conclusions

The high-quality genome assembly of Morchella spongiola M12-10 from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the comparative genomic analysis with 32 other Morchella species indicated unique features in its genome size and genomic components. Our results clarified that M. spongiola is a distinct phylospecies rather than a synonym of M. vulgaris based on morphological, molecular biological, genomic, and comparative genomic analyses. Meanwhile, the formation and evolutionary processes of M. spongiola M12-10 on the QTPs are strongly influenced by the tectonic uplift and geological movements of the plateau. The new genomic data described here lay the foundations for future studies to clarify the mechanisms of the special biological characteristics of M. spongiola , as well as for future comparative genomic and genetic studies across different fungal lineages.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and the complete chromosome genome sequences of M. spongiola M12-10 are deposited in the Genbank accession number SRR18443859, BioSample: SAMN26880165, BioProject: PRJNA781342, respectively. GenBank accession number of M. spongiola M12-10 in five genes (rDNA): ITS = MK937635; nrLSU = MW692181; TEF 1 = OR351230; RPB 1 = OR351231; RPB 2 = OR351232.

Abbreviations

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau subkingdoms

million years ago

joint genome institute

single molecule real time

internal transcribed spacer

nuclear large subunit

largest subunits of RNA polymerase I

second-largest subunits of RNA polymerase II

translation elongation factor 1 alpha

polymerase chain reaction

National Center for Biotechnology Information

Basic Local Alignment Search Tool

transposon elements

long terminal repeat-retrotransposons

long interspersed nuclear elements

Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs

Gene Ontology

Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes

Clusters of Orthologous Groups

Ribosomal RNA genes

transfer RNAs genes

simple sequence repeats

Bayesian Inference

nonribosomal peptide synthetase-like fragment

polyketides type 1

nonribosomal peptide metallophores

fungal RiPP with POP or UstH peptidase types and a modification

genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition

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This work was supported by the Natural Science Planning Project of Qinghai Province (Grant no. 2024-SF-130).

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M.Q. wrote the main manuscript text. M.Q., X.Z.L., X.H.Y., L.Y.Y. and Y.J.B. contributed to the sampling. M.Q. analyzed the data. M.Q., D.D.Y., Z.F., G.T.Z., and L.Y.Y. experimented. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Meng, Q., Xie, Z., Xu, H. et al. Genome assembly of M. spongiola and comparative genomics of the genus Morchella provide initial insights into taxonomy and adaptive evolution. BMC Genomics 25 , 518 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10418-8

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10418-8

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