Widespread association between the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Rhizoscyphus ericae and a leafy liverwort in the maritime and sub‐Antarctic

Abstract

Summary• A recent study identified a fungal isolate from the Antarctic leafy liverwort Cephaloziella varians as the ericoid mycorrhizal associate Rhizoscyphus ericae . However, nothing is known about the wider Antarctic distribution of R. ericae in C. varians , and inoculation experiments confirming the ability of the fungus to form coils in the liverwort are lacking.• Using direct isolation and baiting with Vaccinium macrocarpon seedlings, fungi were isolated from C. varians sampled from eight sites across a 1875-km transect through sub-and maritime Antarctica. The ability of an isolate to form coils in aseptically grown C. varians was also tested.• Fungi with 98-99% sequence identity to R. ericae internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and partial large subunit ribosomal (r)DNA sequences were frequently isolated from C. varians at all sites sampled. The EF4/Fung5 primer set did not amplify small subunit rDNA from three of five R. ericae isolates, probably accounting for the reported absence of the fungus from C. varians in a previous study. Rhizoscyphus ericae was found to colonize aseptically-grown C. varians intracellularly, forming hyphal coils.• This study shows that the association between R. ericae and C. varians is apparently widespread in Antarctica, and confirms that R. ericae is at least in part responsible for the formation of the coils observed in rhizoids of field-collected C. varians .

Fungal symbioses in bryophytes: New insights in the Twenty First Century

“…This led to cytological, cross-infection and molecular studies (Pressel et al 2008a, b). The endophyte was identified as Rhizoscyphus, like that in Antarctic Cephaloziella (Upson et al 2007) while the presence of healthy hyphae and host cytoplasm in the rhizoids indicated a balanced relationship. Cross-infection experiments revealed that fungal isolates not only from the host Pachyschistochila R.M.Schust.…”

“…The identity of the fungus has subsequently been confirmed from extensive sequencing studies on Antarctic Cephaloziella (Spruce) Schiffn. populations (Chambers et al 1999;Upson et al 2007).…”

Mycorrhizas and dark septate root endophytes in polar regions

“…However, studies indicate that the typical fungal associate of ERM, Rhizoscyphus ericae, is present in the leafy liverwort Cephaloziella varians at Bird Island in the sub-Antarctic, throughout the maritime Antarctic and at one location in the continental Antarctic (Chambers et al 1999;Upson et al 2007).…”

An association between the Antarctic mite Alaskozetes antarcticus and an entomophthoralean fungus of the genus Neozygites

“…This may be the case with the Antarctic Neozygites, as although Alaskozetes is restricted to Southern latitudes (Convey 1998), the apparent host shift for Neozygites from prostigmatid mites to the oribatid species may be the result of a cosmopolitan fungus being able to adapt in the absence of its usual host and under a diVerent competition regime. This possibility could also explain other apparent host or environmental shifts seen with Antarctic fungi such as Lecanicillium lecanii and Rhizoscyphus ericae Upson et al 2007). …”

“…One particularly interesting observation is that some fungi that are well known from particular niches and environments elsewhere in the world can occur in an alternative niche in the Antarctic. Examples of this include the normally ericoid mycorrhizal species Rhizoscyphus ericae that is found on liverwort roots in the Antarctic (Upson et al 2007), and the normally coprophilous species Pirella circinans that has been reported as the almost exclusive coloniser of beetle carcasses on the sub-Antarctic Bird Island (Bridge et al 2008a). …”