Fig 1. Phylogeny of Fusarium and Neurospora species, with Blumeria graminis as an outgroup, illustrating convergent and divergent evolution in gene expression during morphological development.

The phylogeny was estimated from amino acid sequences of the largest (RPB1) and the second-largest (RPB2) subunits of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and the timing was calibrated based on results from Taylor and Berbee [38]. Ancestral expression estimates of lpe-1, stc1, and pna-2 genes for the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Fusarium and Neurospora (Inset A), for the MRCA of the Fusarium species (Inset B), and for the MRCA of the Neurospora species (Inset C) are depicted. Orthologous gene sets across taxa are represented by distinct colors. Stages (1–5) of development (not drawn to scale) are indicated in Insets A–C and illustrated in Inset D.