Patterns of utilization of different carbon sources by Chytridiomycota

Abstract

A phylogenetically diverse set of seventeen isolates of Chytridiomycota were selected for a study of the utilization of common carbohydrates as sole carbon sources in synthetic media. Rhizophlyctis rosea AUS 13 is capable of the digestion of crystalline cellulose in the form of lens paper, filter paper and powdered filter paper and grows well with noncrystaline carboxymethyl cellulose or cellobiose, but cannot use starch or maltose as sole carbon sources in liquid and on solid media. None of the other sixteen isolates tested can digest crystalline cellulose, but all grow well on starch and maltose and several can also use cellobiose and/or sucrose as a sole carbon source. Four of the other sixteen isolates could also digest carboxymethyl cellulose slowly. Glucose is an excellent sole source of carbon in synthetic media for all seventeen isolates in the present study. In general, these data suggest variability in the ability of zoosporic true fungi to use carbohydrates other than glucose as sole sources of carbon. Four patterns of carbohydrate utilization emerged from this study of seventeen isolates. R. rosea degrades cellulose over a relatively wide pH range which suggests that the cellulase enzymes are stable over a wide pH range.

Using direct amplification and next-generation sequencing technology to explore foliar endophyte communities in experimentally inoculated western white pines

“…To our knowledge this constitutes the first time fungi in the phylum Chytridiomycota have been reported in foliar tissue of fiveneedle pines, although these fungi have been reported on pine pollen grains (Chen, 2005;Gleason et al, 2010) and through cloning, in needles of loblolly pine (Arnold et al, 2007).…”

Tillage practices and residue management manipulate soil bacterial and fungal assembly and co-occurrence network patterns in maize agroecosystem

“…For instance, the populations of Gaeumannomyces radicicola and Setosphaeria pedicellata, which are recognized as maize root pathogens [61,62], were significantly lower in the +R treatment. However, Rhizophlyctis rosea and Sphaerobolus ingoldii [63,64], which are reported to have the potential to degrade cellulose, were favored by residue retention.…”

Aquatic Fungi

“…However, their saprophytic capabilities and related carbon turnover rates have not been quantified, yet. Some Chytridiomycetes can utilise a range of organic polymers such as glucose, starch, sucrose, cellobiose, chitin and cellulose (Gleason et al, 2011;Reisert & Fuller, 1962) whereas others possess incomplete enzymatic degradation pathways suggesting a possible complementation through other microbes. Many active Chytridiomycetes often occur sporadically in flooded mud of the riparian zone and submerged sediments and form a very different Chytridiomycetes flora compared to that of soils of the catchment area (Willoughby, 1961).…”