Every fungal cell is encapsulated in a cell wall, essential for cell viability, morphogenesis, and pathogenesis. Most knowledge of the cell wall composition in fungi has focused on ascomycetes, especially human pathogens, but considerably less is known about early divergent fungal groups, such as species in the Zoopagomycota and Mucoromycota phyla. To shed light on evolutionary changes in the fungal cell wall, we studied the monosaccharide composition of the cell wall of 18 species including early diverging fungi and species in the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota phyla with a focus on those with pathogenic lifestyles and interactions with plants. Our data revealed that chitin is the most characteristic component of the fungal cell wall, and was found to be in a higher proportion in the early divergent groups. The Mucoromycota species possess few glucans, but instead have other monosaccharides such as fucose and glucuronic acid that are almost exclusively found in their cell walls. Additionally, we observed that hexoses (glucose, mannose and galactose) accumulate in much higher proportions in species belonging to Dikarya. Our data demonstrate a clear relationship between phylogenetic position and fungal cell wall carbohydrate composition and lay the foundation for a better understanding of their evolution and their role in plant interactions.
