Fig. 1

Diagram depicting the design of the evolution experiment in laboratory. a Diagram depicting the morphological characteristics of filamentous fungi. Growth occurred by apical extension at the tip. The older parts of the filament are separated in cell compartments by incomplete septa. The cell compartments are multinucleated. After the correct signals are perceived, the stalk arises from the filament. A morphogenetic program will control the development of the conidiophore, which harbours the uninucleated conidia. b A spore prep of each strain was diluted and plated to obtain isolated colonies. Ten random colonies showing normal wild-type characteristics were selected to establish each MA line and inoculated in an individual plate containing complete media. Fungal colonies were allowed to grow for 3 days at 37 °C (30 °C for A. flavus). One plug was taken from the conidiating edge of each plate, conidia were resuspended in 1000 μl of tween buffer and 10 μl were used to inoculate a new fresh plate. The procedure was repeated alternatively every 3 and 4 days (twice a week) 60 times to reach approximately 4032 mitosis