Culturable fungal assemblages growing within Cenococcum sclerotia in forest soils. Issue 3 (30th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Obase, Keisuke; Douhan, Greg W.; Matsuda, Yosuke; Smith, Matthew E.
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology ecology. Volume 90:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 708
• Page End: 717
• Publication Date: 2014-09-30
• Subjects: Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1111/1574-6941.12428
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-6496

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="fem12428-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The ectomycorrhizal fungus <italic>Cenococcum geophilum</italic> (<italic>Ascomycota</italic>, <italic> Dothideomycetes</italic>) forms black, round to irregular sclerotia in forest soils. Fungi that colonize the sclerotia appear to affect sclerotia viability and may play an important role in the life history of <italic>Cenococcum</italic>. Some of the fungi could also affect nutrient cycling by decomposing <italic>Cenococcum</italic> sclerotia, which are melanized and recalcitrant to decay. We used a culture‐based method to document the fungal communities growing inside surface‐sterilized sclerotia that were collected from forest soils. <italic>Cenococcum</italic> was successfully isolated from 297 of 971 sclerotia whereas 427 sclerotia hosted fungi other than <italic>Cenococcum</italic>. DNA barcoding of the internal transcribed spacer rDNA followed by grouping at 97% sequence similarity yielded 85 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that consisted primarily of <italic>Ascomycota</italic> (e.g. <italic>Chaetothyriales</italic>, <italic> Eurotiales</italic>, <italic> Helotiales</italic>, <italic> Pleosporales</italic>) and a few <italic>Basidiomycota</italic> and <italic>Mucoromycotina</italic>. Although most fungal OTUs were infrequently cultured, several OTUs such as members of <italic>Asterostroma</italic>, <italic> Cladophialophora</italic>, <italic> Oidiodendron, </italic> and <italic>Pleosporales</italic> were common and found across many sites. Our results suggest that <italic>Cenococcum</italic> sclerotia act as a substrate for diverse fungi. The occurrence of several OTUs in sclerotia across many sites suggests that these fungi may be active parasites of <italic>Cenococcum</italic> sclerotia or may preferentially use sclerotia as a nutrient source.</p> </abstract>