Marginal lands and fungi - linking the type of soil contamination with fungal community composition

Fungi can be found in almost all ecosystems. Some of them can even survive in harsh, anthropogenically transformed environments, such as post-industrial soils. In order to verify how the soil fungal diversity may be changed by pollution, two soil samples from each of the 28 post-industrial sites were collected. Each soil sample was characterized in terms of concentration of heavy metals and petroleum derivatives. To identify soil fungal communities, fungal ITS2 amplicon was sequenced for each sample using Illumina MiSeq platform. There were significant differences in the community structure and taxonomic diversity among the analyzed samples. The highest taxon richness and evenness were observed in the non-polluted sites, and lower numbers of taxa were identified in multi-polluted soils. The presence of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, gasoline, and mineral oil were determined as the factors driving the differences in the mycobiome. Further, in the culture-based selection experiment, two main groups of fungi growing on polluted media were identified - generalists able to live in the presence of pollution, and specialists adapted to the usage of BTEX as a sole source of energy. Our selection experiment proved that it is long-term soil contamination that shapes the community, rather than temporary addition of pollutant. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

18th Congress of European Mycologists Bioblitz 2019 – Naturalists Contribute to the Knowledge of Mycobiota and Lichenobiota of Białowieża Primeval Forest

A total of 561 records of 233 species of fungi are reported from the Polish part of Białowieża Forest as a result of a short-term inventory that was conducted during the 18th Congress of European Mycologists (September 18–29, 2019). Four species new to Poland (<em>Bryocentria</em><em> brongniartii</em>, <em>Tremella coppinsii</em>, <em>T. </em><em>hypocenomycis</em>, and <em>Zevadia peroccidentalis</em>), and eight species new to Białowieża Primeval Forest (<em>Hypomyces chrysostomus</em>, <em>Hypomyces rosellus</em>, <em>Lachnellula resinaria</em>, <em>Peniophora lycii</em>, <em>Phellinus viticola</em>, <em>Phlebia subochracea</em>, <em>Pronectria anisospora</em>, and <em>Typhula quisquiliaris</em>) were recorded.