26The Agaricomycetes are fruiting body forming fungi that produce some of the most efficient 27 enzyme systems to degrade woody plant materials. Despite decades-long interest in the 28 ecological and functional diversity of wood-decay types and in fruiting body development, the 29 evolution of the genetic repertoires of both traits are incompletely known. Here, we sequenced 30 and analyzed the genome of Auriculariopsis ampla, a close relative of the model species 31Schizophyllum commune. Comparative analyses of wood-decay genes in these and other 29 32Agaricomycetes species revealed that the gene family composition of A. ampla and S. commune 33 are transitional between that of white rot species and less efficient wood-degraders (brown rot, 34 ectomycorrhizal). Rich repertoires of suberinase and tannase genes were found in both species, 35with tannases generally restricted to species that preferentially colonize bark-covered wood. 36Analyses of fruiting body transcriptomes in both A. ampla and S. commune highlighted a high 37 rate of divergence of developmental gene expression. Several genes with conserved 38 developmental expression were found, nevertheless, including 9 new transcription factors as well 39 as small secreted proteins, some of which may serve as fruiting body-specific effector molecules. 40Taken together, the genome sequence and developmental transcriptome of Auriculariopsis ampla 41 has highlighted novel aspects of wood-decay diversity and of fruiting body development in 42 mushroom-forming fungi. 43 44 10 . Accordingly, it lacks the ability to degrade lignin and achieves weak degradation of wood 64 9,11,12 , although this might be complemented by pathogenic potentials on living plants or the 65 activity of other, more efficient degraders that co-inhabit the same substrate 13 . Analyses of the 66 secretome and wood-decay progression of S. commune revealed both WR and BR-like behaviors 67 10,14 , although several questions on the biology of this species remain open. 68 4 Fruiting body production, is a highly integrated developmental process triggered by a 69 changing environment, such as a drop in temperature, nutrient depletion or shifts in light 70 conditions [15][16][17] . It results from the concerted expression of structural and regulatory 1,18-22 genes 71 as well as other processes, such as alternative splicing 3,23 , allele-specific gene expression 3 and 72 probably selective protein modification 3,24 . Known structural genes include hydrophobins [25][26][27] , 73 lectins 28-30 , several cell wall chitin and glucan-active CAZymes 5,31-33 , and probably cerato-74 platanins, expansin-like 3,4 and an array of other genes 34 . Regulators of fruiting body 75 development have been characterized in several species, in particular in Coprinopsis cinerea 76 18,19,35-37 and S. commune 1,2,24 . Despite much advance in this field, several aspects of fruiting 77 body development are quite poorly known, including, for example what genes have conserved 78 developmental roles across fruiting body forming fun...