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McPolin MC, Kranabetter JM, Philpott TJ, Hawkins BJ. Sporocarp nutrition of ectomycorrhizal fungi indicates an important role for endemic species in a high productivity temperate rainforest. New Phytol 2024; 242:1603-1613. [PMID: 37771241 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
Endemic species of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are found throughout many biomes, but it is unclear whether their localized distribution is dictated by habitat filtering or geographical barriers to dispersal. We examined community composition (via long-read metabarcoding) and differences in sporocarp nutrition between endemic and cosmopolitan EMF species across perhumid temperate rainforests of British Columbia, characterized by soils with high nitrogen (N) supply alongside low phosphorus (P) and cation availability. Endemic EMF species, representing almost half of the community, had significantly greater sporocarp N (24% higher), potassium (+16%), and magnesium (+17%) concentrations than cosmopolitan species. Sporocarp P concentrations were comparatively low and did not differ by fungal range. However, sporocarp N% and P% were well correlated, supporting evidence for linkages in N and P acquisition. Endemics were more likely to occur on Tsuga heterophylla (a disjunct host genus) than Picea sitchensis (a circumpolar genus). The Inocybaceae and Thelephoraceae families had high proportions of endemic taxa, while species in Cortinariaceae were largely cosmopolitan, indicating some niche conservatism among genera. We conclude that superior adaptive traits in relation to perhumid soils were skewed toward the endemic community, underscoring the potentially important contribution of these localized fungi to rainforest nutrition and productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Claire McPolin
- Centre for Forest Biology, University of Victoria, PO Box 3020, STN CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 3N5, Canada
| | - J Marty Kranabetter
- British Columbia Ministry of Forests, PO Box 9536, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9C4, Canada
| | - Tim J Philpott
- British Columbia Ministry of Forests, 200-640 Borland St., Williams Lake, BC, V2G 4T1, Canada
| | - Barbara J Hawkins
- Centre for Forest Biology, University of Victoria, PO Box 3020, STN CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 3N5, Canada
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Resl P, Fernández-Mendoza F, Mayrhofer H, Spribille T. The evolution of fungal substrate specificity in a widespread group of crustose lichens. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20180640. [PMID: 30333206 PMCID: PMC6234878 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Lichens exhibit varying degrees of specialization with regard to the surfaces they colonize, ranging from substrate generalists to strict substrate specialists. Though long recognized, the causes and consequences of substrate specialization are poorly known. Using a phylogeny of a 150-200 Mya clade of lichen fungi, we asked whether substrate niche is phylogenetically conserved, which substrates are ancestral, whether specialists arise from generalists or vice versa and how specialization affects speciation/extinction processes. We found strong phylogenetic signal for niche conservatism. Specialists evolved into generalists and back again, but transitions from generalism to specialism were more common than the reverse. Our models suggest that for this group of fungi, 'escape' from specialization for soil, rock and bark occurred, but specialization for wood foreclosed evolution away from that substrate type. In parallel, speciation models showed positive diversification rates for soil and rock dwellers but not other specialists. Patterns in the studied group suggest that fungal substrate specificity is a key determinant of evolutionary trajectory for the entire lichen symbiosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Resl
- Faculty of Biology, Department I, Systematic Botany and Mycology, University of Munich (LMU), Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Division of Plant Sciences, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Fernando Fernández-Mendoza
- Institute of Biology, Division of Plant Sciences, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Helmut Mayrhofer
- Institute of Biology, Division of Plant Sciences, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Toby Spribille
- Department of Biological Sciences CW405, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
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Looney BP, Meidl P, Piatek MJ, Miettinen O, Martin FM, Matheny PB, Labbé JL. Russulaceae: a new genomic dataset to study ecosystem function and evolutionary diversification of ectomycorrhizal fungi with their tree associates. New Phytol 2018; 218:54-65. [PMID: 29381218 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The family Russulaceae is considered an iconic lineage of mostly mushroom-forming basidiomycetes due to their importance as edible mushrooms in many parts of the world, and their ubiquity as ectomycorrhizal symbionts in both temperate and tropical forested biomes. Although much research has been focused on this group, a comprehensive or cohesive synthesis by which to understand the functional diversity of the group has yet to develop. Interest in ectomycorrhizal fungi, of which Russulaceae is a key lineage, is prodigious due to the important roles they play as plant root mutualists in ecosystem functioning, global carbon sequestration, and a potential role in technology development toward environmental sustainability. As one of the most species-diverse ectomycorrhizal lineages, the Russulaceae has recently been the focus of a dense sampling and genome sequencing initiative with the Joint Genome Institute aimed at untangling their functional roles and testing whether functional niche specialization exists for independent lineages of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Here we present a review of important studies on this group to contextualize what we know about its members' evolutionary history and ecosystem functions, as well as to generate hypotheses establishing the Russulaceae as a valuable experimental system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian P Looney
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
- INRA Université de Lorraine, UMR Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes, Laboratoire d'excellence ARBRE, 54280 Champenoux, France
| | - Peter Meidl
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Marek J Piatek
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Otto Miettinen
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00170, Finland
| | - Francis M Martin
- INRA Université de Lorraine, UMR Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes, Laboratoire d'excellence ARBRE, 54280 Champenoux, France
| | - P Brandon Matheny
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Jessy L Labbé
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
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Crowther TW, Maynard DS, Crowther TR, Peccia J, Smith JR, Bradford MA. Untangling the fungal niche: the trait-based approach. Front Microbiol 2014; 5:579. [PMID: 25400630 PMCID: PMC4215788 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungi are prominent components of most terrestrial ecosystems, both in terms of biomass and ecosystem functioning, but the hyper-diverse nature of most communities has obscured the search for unifying principles governing community organization. In particular, unlike plants and animals, observational studies provide little evidence for the existence of niche processes in structuring fungal communities at broad spatial scales. This limits our capacity to predict how communities, and their functioning, vary across landscapes. We outline how a shift in focus, from taxonomy toward functional traits, might prove to be valuable in the search for general patterns in fungal ecology. We build on theoretical advances in plant and animal ecology to provide an empirical framework for a trait-based approach in fungal community ecology. Drawing upon specific characteristics of the fungal system, we highlight the significance of drought stress and combat in structuring free-living fungal communities. We propose a conceptual model to formalize how trade-offs between stress-tolerance and combative dominance are likely to organize communities across environmental gradients. Given that the survival of a fungus in a given environment is contingent on its ability to tolerate antagonistic competitors, measuring variation in combat trait expression along environmental gradients provides a means of elucidating realized, from fundamental niche spaces. We conclude that, using a trait-based understanding of how niche processes structure fungal communities across time and space, we can ultimately link communities with ecosystem functioning. Our trait-based framework highlights fundamental uncertainties that require testing in the fungal system, given their potential to uncover general mechanisms in fungal ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W. Crowther
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA
| | - Daniel S. Maynard
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Jordan Peccia
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jeffrey R. Smith
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mark A. Bradford
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT, USA
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