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opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Root associated fungi in Arctic Glacier Forlands raw sequences

Climate change causes Arctic glaciers to retreat faster, exposing new areas for colonization. Several pioneer plants likely to colonize recent deglaciated, nutrient-poor areas depend on fungal partners for successful establishment. Little is known about general patterns or characteristics of facilitating fungal pioneers and how they vary with regional climate in the Arctic. The High Arctic Archipelago Svalbard represents an excellent study system to address these questions, as glaciers cover ∼60% of the land surface and recent estimations suggest at least 7% reduction of glacier area since 1960s. Roots of two ectomycorrhizal (ECM) plants (Salix polaris and Bistorta vivipara ) were sampled in eight glacier forelands. Associated ECM fungi were assessed using DNA metabarcoding. About 25% of the diversity was unknown at family level, indicating presence of undescribed species. Seven genera dominated based on richness and abundance, but their relative importance varied with local factors. The genus Geopora showed surprisingly high richness and abundance, particularly in dry, nutrient-poor forelands. Such forelands will diminish along with increasing temperature and precipitation, and faster succession. Our results support a taxonomical shift in pioneer ECM diversity with climate change, and we are likely to lose unknown fungal diversity, without knowing their identity or ecological importance.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Community composition of arctic root-associated fungi mirrors host plant phylogeny

The number of plant species regarded as non-mycorrhizal increases at higher latitudes, and several plant species in the High-Arctic Archipelago Svalbard have been reported as non-mycorrhizal. We used the rRNA ITS2 and 18S gene markers to survey which fungi, as well as other micro-eukaryotes, were associated with roots of 31 arctic plant species not usually regarded as mycorrhizal in Svalbard. We assessed to what degree the root-associated fungi showed any host preference and whether the phylogeny of the plant hosts may mirror the composition of root-associated fungi. Fungal communities were largely structured according to host plant identity and to a less extent by environmental factors. We observed a positive relationship between the phylogenetic distance of host plants and the distance of fungal community composition between samples, indicating that the evolutionary history of the host plants plays a major role for which fungi colonize the plant roots. In contrast to the ITS2 marker, the 18S rRNA gene marker showed that chytrid fungi were prevalently associated with plant roots, together with a wide spectrum of amoeba-like protists and nematodes. Our study confirms that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are present also in arctic environments in low abundance.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Low host specificity among arctic root-assosiated fungi

In High Arctic ecosystems, plant growth and reproduction are limited by low soil moisture and nutrient availability, low soil and air temperatures, and a short growing season. Mycorrhizal associations facilitate plant nutrient acquisition and water uptake and may therefore be particularly ecologically important in nutrition-poor and dry environments, such as parts of the Arctic. Similarly, endophytic root associates are thought to play a protective role, increasing plants' stress tolerance, and likely have an important ecosystem function. Despite the importance of these root-associated fungi, little is known about their host specificity in the Arctic. We investigated the host specificity of root-associated fungi in the common, widely distributed arctic plant species Bistorta vivipara, Salix polaris and Dryas octopetala in the High Arctic archipelago Svalbard. High-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) amplified from whole root systems generated no evidence of host specificity and no spatial autocorrelation within two 3 m × 3 m sample plots. The lack of spatial structure at small spatial scales indicates that Common Mycelial Networks (CMNs) are rare in marginal arctic environments. Moreover, no significant differences in fungal OTU richness were observed across the three plant species, although their root system characteristics (size, biomass) differed considerably. Reasons for lack of host specificity could be that association with generalist fungi may allow arctic plants to more rapidly and easily colonize newly available habitats, and it may be favourable to establish symbiotic relationships with fungi possessing different physiological attributes.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi respond differently to long-term experimentally increased snow depth in the High Arctic

Changing climate is expected to alter precipitation patterns in the Arctic, with consequences for subsurface temperature and moisture conditions, community structure, and nutrient mobilization through microbial belowground processes. Here, we address the effect of increased snow depth on the variation in species richness and community structure of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and saprotrophic fungi. Soil samples were collected weekly from mid-July to mid-September in both control and deep snow plots. Richness of ECM fungi was lower, while saprotrophic fungi was higher in increased snow depth plots relative to controls. [Correction added on 23 September 2016 after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, the richness of ECM and saprotrophic fungi were wrongly interchanged and have been fixed in this current version.] ECM fungal richness was related to soil NO3-N, NH4-N, and K; and saprotrophic fungi to NO3-N and pH. Small but significant changes in the composition of saprotrophic fungi could be attributed to snow treatment and sampling time, but not so for the ECM fungi. Delayed snow melt did not influence the temporal variation in fungal communities between the treatments. Results suggest that some fungal species are favored, while others are disfavored resulting in their local extinction due to long-term changes in snow amount. Shifts in species composition of fungal functional groups are likely to affect nutrient cycling, ecosystem respiration, and stored permafrost carbon.

publicJan 2014View details →

Data from: Low host specificity among arctic root-assosiated fungi

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publicSep 2020View details →

Community composition of arctic root-associated fungi mirrors host plant phylogeny

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publicAug 2020View details →

Root associated fungi in Arctic Glacier Forlands raw sequences

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publicApr 2017View details →

Data from: Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi respond differently to long-term experimentally increased snow depth in the High Arctic

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Figure 5 from: Usman M, Dyer PS, Brock M, Wade CM, Khalid AN (2024) Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys 102: 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Figure 5 Phylogenetic tree of the genus Oxneriaria as generated by Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses, based on mtSSU sequences. Bootstrap values > 70%, based on 1,000 replicates are shown at the branches. Novel sequences, generated during this study, are shown in bold.

Figure 4 from: Usman M, Dyer PS, Brock M, Wade CM, Khalid AN (2024) Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys 102: 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Figure 4 Phylogenetic tree of the genus Oxneriaria as generated by Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses, based on LSU sequences. Bootstrap values > 70%, based on 1,000 replicates are shown at the branches. Novel sequences, generated during this study, are shown in bold.

Figure 3 from: Usman M, Dyer PS, Brock M, Wade CM, Khalid AN (2024) Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys 102: 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Figure 3 Phylogenetic tree of the genus Oxneriaria as generated by Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses, based on ITS sequences. Bootstrap values > 70%, based on 1,000 replicates are shown at the branches. Novel sequences, generated during this study, are shown in bold.

Figure 2 from: Usman M, Dyer PS, Brock M, Wade CM, Khalid AN (2024) Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys 102: 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Figure 2 Oxneriaria deosaiensis sp. nov. holotype (LAH37200) A thallus B margins C apothecia under stereomicroscope D ascospores in Lugol's solution E conidia F pycnidium. Photos by Muhammad Usman. Scale bars: 1 cm (A); 1 mm (B, C); 20 μm (D); 30 μm (E); 100 μm (F).

Figure 1 from: Usman M, Dyer PS, Brock M, Wade CM, Khalid AN (2024) Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys 102: 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Figure 1 Oxneriaria crittendenii sp. nov. holotype (LAH37193) A thallus B margins C apothecia under stereomicroscope D ascospores in Lugol's solution E conidia F pycnidium. Photos by Muhammad Usman. Scale bars: 5 cm (A); 1 mm (B, C); 20 μm (D, E); 100 μm (F).