Keratinophilic fungi: Specialized fungal communities in a desert ecosystem identified using cultured-based and Illumina sequencing approaches

Hamm, Paris S.; Mueller, Rebecca C.; Kuske, Cheryl R.; Porras‐Alfaro, Andrea

doi:10.1016/j.micres.2020.126530

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Thanks to their various life forms and ecological plasticity, fungal assemblages display strong adaptation to extreme environments, and their role is particularly crucial for the recycling of organic matter and favouring nutrient uptake under stressful conditions [58]. Our study showed that Ascomycota were dominant among the desert plants, which is in accordance with the ndings of some previous studies [57,59,60]. Most Ascomycota members are saprophytic and therefore the main decomposers in habitats, as they can decompose large amounts of refractory organic matter, thus playing an important role in desert nutrient cycling [61].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Rarefaction analyses and richness estimators indicated that much of the total diversity detectable with Illumina-based sequencing was observed. Although a great number of endophytic fungi have been isolated from desert plants worldwide [6,12,[54][55][56][57], this study is the rst to describe plant-fungal endophyte associations in an extremely arid desert ecosystem with the simultaneous consideration and comparison of above-and belowground environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Niche Differentiation and Co-Occurrence Network of Fungal Communities Associated with Host Affiliations in an Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Zuo¹,

Li²,

Yang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Desert shrubs represent high productivity and play essential roles in maintaining the biodiversity and stability of ecosystem functioning in arid desert ecosystems. These xerophytic plants provide specific biotic and abiotic conditions for the resident specialist microorganisms. However, a robust understanding of the structural composition of the fungal microbiome associated with desert plants and especially the relationship between above- and belowground communities is currently lacking. In this study, we examined the endophytic fungal communities associated with the root, stem, and leaf tissues of five desert shrubs using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences.Results: A total of 337 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of endophytic fungi were identified at a 97% sequence similarity level. Pleosporales were dominant and played an irreplaceable role as keystone species in maintaining the connectivity and complexity of the fungal networks. Desert shrub identity significantly affected the community composition of the endophytic fungi in different tissues. Compared with the fungi in the aboveground tissues, root-associated fungi represented the most abundant reservoir of biodiversity in the desert habitat and displayed significantly high tissue specificity. Interestingly, the aboveground stems and leaves showed higher taxonomic overlap with underground root tissues than with each other. The root fungal network revealed the highest connectivity, and the interspecies relationships between desert fungal OTUs revealed a high percentage of co-presence rather than mutual exclusion. In addition, members of Hypocreales played a central role in connecting the above- and belowground fungal networks.Conclusions: This study represents the first example of research revealing plant-fungus endophytic associations in an extremely arid desert ecosystem with the simultaneous consideration and comparison of above- and belowground niches. Understanding the complex host-microbe interactions associated with desert plants could provide a basis for the exploitation of plant-fungus associations in the manipulation of the shrub microbiome for ecological restoration purposes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche Differentiation and Co-Occurrence Network of Fungal Communities Associated with Host Affiliations in an Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Zuo¹,

Li²,

Yang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…However, desert plants interact with diverse clades of endophytic fungi in their internal organizations to maintain their adaptation and ecological success in arid habitats [ 69 ]. Although a large number of endophytic fungi have been isolated from plants in arid environments [ 1 , 7 , 9 , 70 , 71 , 72 ], few studies have focused on the molecular phylogenetics of the fungal microbiome in desert plants, especially the extremely xeric shrubs. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the fungal community assembly associated with typical super-xerophytic plant communities in extremely arid desert.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most members of Ascomycota are saprophytic and, therefore, the main decomposers in habitats. The predominance of Ascomycota seems to be characteristic of the endophytic mycota identified from other plant species [ 72 , 75 , 76 ]. However, Wenndt et al [ 77 ] investigated the endophytic fungal communities from perennial bunchgrass Stipagrostis sabulicola in the Namib Sand Sea, and demonstrated that the dryland grass tended to harbor endophytic communities composed predominantly of potential saprophytes, which can decompose large amounts of plant litter immediately after senescence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal Endophytic Community and Diversity Associated with Desert Shrubs Driven by Plant Identity and Organ Differentiation in Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Zuo

Xia

Yang

et al. 2021

JoF

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Despite desert ecosystem being crucial to our understanding of natural geography, species evolution and global climate change, there is limited information on the dynamics of their composition and the diversity of endophytic fungi communities driven by plant identity and organ differentiation. Here, an extensive investigation of endophytic fungal microbiome in root, stem, and leaf organs associated with five xerophyte shrubs in an extremely arid desert, Northwest China, were examined. The fungal community dominated by Dothideomycetes and Pleosporales. Shrub species strongly drive the niche-based processes of endophytic fungi across the root, stem and leaf compartments. The diversity and composition of endophytic fungi in stem showed higher variability among plant species than leaf and root. The fungal communities in root libraries were more diverse and exhibited a remarkable differentiation of community composition. We further demonstrated the significant host preferences and tissue specificity of desert endophytic fungi, and unique specific taxa were also observed. The co-occurrence network revealed the coexistence of fungal endophytes in arid desert, and the root fungal network harbored the highest interspecies connectivity. Members of Pleosporales were the most common keystone species in the root fungal network. This is the first report of mycobiota in both plant species and organ differentiation in an extremely arid desert ecosystem.

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“…A temperatura é um importante fator que influencia o crescimento dos fungos, podendo estar associada com a manutenção de sua viabilidade no ambiente. No entanto, estudo conduzido por Hamm et al (2020), que analisou a presença de fungos queratinofílicos em solo árido de Utah, nos EUA, com temperaturas que variavam entre -2 °C e 28 °C, não observando a presença de dermatófitos, corroborando com nossos resultados.…”

Section: Materiais E Métodosunclassified

Investigação da presença de fungos dermatófitos em praias de Salvador, Bahia / Investigation of dermatophyte fungi on Salvador’s beaches, Bahia

Pinto¹,

Desidério²,

Santos³

et al. 2021

Braz. J. Hea. Rev.

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Keratinophilic fungi: Specialized fungal communities in a desert ecosystem identified using cultured-based and Illumina sequencing approaches

Cited by 17 publications

References 80 publications

Niche Differentiation and Co-Occurrence Network of Fungal Communities Associated with Host Affiliations in an Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Niche Differentiation and Co-Occurrence Network of Fungal Communities Associated with Host Affiliations in an Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Fungal Endophytic Community and Diversity Associated with Desert Shrubs Driven by Plant Identity and Organ Differentiation in Extremely Arid Desert Ecosystem

Investigação da presença de fungos dermatófitos em praias de Salvador, Bahia / Investigation of dermatophyte fungi on Salvador’s beaches, Bahia

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