Article
Microbiology
Hector Herrera, Tedy Sanhueza, Rafael Borges da Silva Valadares, Francisco Matus, Guillermo Pereira, Cristian Atala, Maria de la Luz Mora, Cesar Arriagada
Summary: This study analyzed the diversity of mycorrhizal and rhizosphere-associated fungal communities in two terrestrial orchids. The results showed significant differences in fungal community composition between different sites, with Sebacina being the most abundant mycorrhizal genus in the rhizosphere of orchids in the native forest, and Thanatephorus being the most abundant mycorrhizal taxon in the rhizosphere of orchids in the Coastal Cordillera.
Review
Plant Sciences
Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin
Summary: Studies have shown that the germination process of dust seeds in mycoheterotrophic species is complex, especially in the three tribes under the Ericaceae family. These seeds are typically very small, with undifferentiated embryos, and require symbiosis with fungi to germinate.
SEED SCIENCE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yuan-Yuan Li, Margaux Boeraeve, Yu-Hsiu Cho, Hans Jacquemyn, Yung- Lee
Summary: Mycorrhizal associations play a crucial role in orchid germination and seedling establishment, potentially impacting the distribution and abundance of orchids in natural conditions. The mycoheterotrophic orchid Gastrodia confusoides displays random aboveground spatial patterns of distribution within bamboo forests, possibly due to the scattered distribution of litter-decaying fungi. Our study provides evidence that the abundance of litter-decaying fungi varies randomly within the bamboo forest and independently from G. confusoides adults.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Martin Vohnik, M. Clara Bruzone, Tereza Knoblochova, Natalia V. Fernandez, Zuzana Kolarikova, Tomas Vetrovsky, Sonia B. Fontenla
Summary: This study investigated the diversity of fungal symbionts in the hair roots of Ericaceae plants, revealing various types of fungi, with a focus on ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi. The study found significant differences in fungal communities between different regions and even within the same region. It also identified several novel fungal lineages and emphasized the importance of ErM fungi for host fitness.
Article
Plant Sciences
Modjadji C. Makwela, Almuth Hammerbacher, Martin P. A. Coetzee, Brenda Wingfield, Gerrit van Ede, Tanay Bose
Summary: This study compared the fungal diversity in the mycorrhizosphere and non-mycorrhizosphere soils of a critically endangered terrestrial orchid in the Gauteng Province of South Africa using high-throughput sequencing. The results revealed the presence of several exclusive fungal species in the mycorrhizosphere of the orchid. This study provides valuable insights into the soil fungal diversity associated with this endangered orchid.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Masahide Yamato, Ryota Kosaka, Yurika Masui, Yugo Goda, Shunsei Shirasaka, Atsushi Maruyama, Tomohisa Yukawa
Summary: The habitat with giant C. falcata individuals was found to have Sebacinales fungi as the dominant mycobiont, possibly contributing to the growth of giant individuals. However, seedling growth of C. falcata was mainly impacted by Thelephoraceae fungi. Therefore, the growth of giant individuals may be a result of previous colonization by Sebacinales fungi.
ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Marc-Andre Selosse, Remi Petrolli, Maria Isabel Mujica, Liam Laurent, Benoit Perez-Lamarque, Tomas Figura, Amelia Bourceret, Hans Jacquemyn, Taiqiang Li, Jiangyun Gao, Julita Minasiewicz, Florent Martos
Summary: The roots of orchids associate with a variety of soil fungi, including a group called rhizoctonias that is most frequently found. However, there are also orchid species that target other fungal taxa with different phylogenetic positions and ecological traits. This study offers an evolutionary framework for understanding these symbiotic associations.
Article
Plant Sciences
Takahiro Yagame, Felix Lallemand, Marc-Andre Selosse, Eriko Funabiki, Tomohisa Yukawa
Summary: The study investigated the association of the chlorophyllous orchid Cremastra variabilis with various fungi and found that individuals associated with Psathyrellaceae fungi showed significantly higher relative abundance of C-13. Additionally, Psathyrellaceae fungi were always detected on individuals with mycorhizomes.
JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiang-Gui Chen, Yi-Hua Wu, Neng-Qi Li, Jiang-Yun Gao
Summary: Compatible fungi can promote the germination and seedling formation of Dendrobium officinale seeds, while incompatible fungi cannot continuously colonize seeds and support seedling development. Seed pretreatment can improve seed germination, but cannot change the compatibility of a fungus with an orchid. Without a seed coat, the incompatible fungus is still unable to colonize in vitro-produced protocorms or support seedling development.
Article
Ecology
Melissa K. McCormick, Kerry L. Good, Thomas J. Mozdzer, Dennis F. Whigham
Summary: This study found that shade and drought increased the dependence of orchids on fungal carbon and nitrogen.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Tao Wang, Xiaojing Wang, Yanqing Gang, Xia Cui, Huiwen Lan, Zhenhua Liu
Summary: This study investigated the diversity of endophytic fungi in different tissues of Cymbidium goeringii plants and found that different tissue samples harbor a rich fungal endophytic community. The study also identified certain fungal taxa that were concentrated in specific orchid tissues. Moreover, two Tulasnella isolates from the roots of wild C. goeringii were found to effectively promote seed germination and rhizome formation.
CURRENT MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Agnieszka Rosinska, Roman Andrzejak, Vignan Kakkerla
Summary: This study investigates the effects of melatonin on germination, vigor, and seed health of carrot seeds through osmopriming. The results show that melatonin significantly improves germination capacity and reduces pathogenic fungi infection, suggesting its potential as a substitute for fungicides.
Article
Plant Sciences
Melissa McCormick, Robert Burnett, Dennis Whigham
Summary: The study found that the temperate terrestrial orchid Tipularia discolor retains protocorm fungi into maturity, whether they are growing in persistent decomposing wood or soil. Protocorm fungi are not restricted to decomposing wood but are more common and abundant in it. This suggests that the mycorrhizal fungi associated with T. discolor change during individual ontogeny.
Article
Plant Sciences
Kenji Suetsugu, Shun K. Hirota, Tian-Chuan Hsu, Shuichi Kurogi, Akio Imamura, Yoshihisa Suyama
Summary: Due to their reduced morphology, non-photosynthetic plants have been challenging to classify to species level. Using integrative species delimitation, a new species of Monotropastrum with rosy pink petals and sepals has been identified based on detailed morphological investigation, molecular data, and associated fungi.
JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Sofia I. F. Gomes, Miguel A. Fortuna, Jordi Bascompte, Vincent S. F. T. Merckx
Summary: This study investigates the interaction between mycoheterotrophic plants, which obtain carbon and nutrients from fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal networks. The research reveals that mycoheterotrophic plants interact with a subset of fungi detected in autotrophs, and fungi with a high overlap in autotrophic partners tend to interact with a similar set of mycoheterotrophs. The findings suggest that maintaining antagonistic interactions by targeting well-linked mutualistic fungi maximizes the carbon supply.
Article
Ecology
Robert Weigel, Hugh A. L. Henry, Ilka Beil, Gerhard Gebauer, Gerald Jurasinski, Marcin Klisz, Ernst van der Maaten, Lena Muffler, Juergen Kreyling
Summary: Climate warming may increase soil frost events in northern temperate regions, impacting tree growth and biogeochemical cycling. Soil frost was found to affect tree growth and cycling sensitivity, regardless of prevailing winter climate and snow conditions.
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Stephanie N. Kivlin, Christine V. Hawkes, Monica Papes, Kathleen K. Treseder, Colin Averill
Article
Plant Sciences
Philipp Giesemann, Gerhard Gebauer
Summary: This study used hydrogen stable isotope (H-2) natural abundances as a substitute for carbon stable isotope (C-13) to investigate the carbon gain of C-3 parasitic plants from their hosts. The progressive enrichment of H-2 can be used as a proxy to evaluate the carbon gains from hosts.
Article
Plant Sciences
Franziska E. Zahn, Yung- Lee, Gerhard Gebauer
Summary: The green orchid Cremastra appendiculata from East Asia is unique in that it changes fungal mycorrhiza partners during development. In the early seedling stage, this orchid relies on wood- or litter-decomposing fungi, while adults either continue to be associated with these fungi or switch to ubiquitous saprotrophic fungi of the rhizoctonia group. This study provides new insights into changes in subterranean morphology and nutrition mode accompanying this fungal partner switch. It turns out that only rhizomes were colonized by the wood- or litter-decomposing fungi, while roots of adults were colonized by rhizoctonia. Early seedlings relied fully on fungi as a nutrient source, while adults without rhizomes were fully autotrophic.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peter M. Vitousek, Kathleen K. Treseder, Robert W. Howarth, Duncan N. L. Menge
Summary: Nitrogen (N) limitation affects the net primary production of ecosystems and is influenced by the co-occurrence of N losses and barriers to biological N fixation. Factors such as precipitation variation and grazing can significantly impact nitrogen limitation in ecosystems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sebastian Steibl, Gerhard Gebauer, Christian Laforsch
Summary: Human land use has a growing impact on island ecosystems, especially on food webs. Different land use regimes, such as tourism and urban development, can significantly alter the structure and characteristics of food webs on small oceanic islands. This study found that tourism land use reduced trophic diversity and increased trophic niche widths, while urban land use resulted in reduced trophic diversity at the base of the food web and a more uneven trophic niche distribution. These findings suggest that oceanic islands may face unpredictable long-term changes in food web dynamics due to human land conversion.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Charlotte J. Alster, Steven D. Allison, Kathleen K. Treseder
Summary: Decomposer fungi play a fundamental role in terrestrial ecosystem dynamics. Investigating relationships between fungal traits may improve the prediction of fungal responses to drought in the face of climate change.
Article
Ecology
Marius Klotz, Joerg Schaller, Heike Feldhaar, Juergen Dengler, Gerhard Gebauer, Gregor Aas, Anita Weissflog, Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht
Summary: Water regimes in temperate grasslands affect plant silicon and nitrogen concentrations, with grasses showing more consistent silicon responses and forbs showing more variable responses. Drought increased nitrogen concentrations for all species, while waterlogging and flooding resulted in decreased concentrations for some species. Changes in water regimes influenced the rankings of plant silicon and nitrogen concentrations, particularly in forbs. The observed plasticity in plant silicon and nitrogen concentrations may have significant implications for ecological processes.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Microbiology
J. T. Lennon, S. D. W. Frost, N. K. Nguyen, A. L. Peralta, A. R. Place, K. K. Treseder
Summary: Climate change is a complex problem that requires collaboration between different disciplines to understand, predict, and mitigate its impacts. This article provides case studies demonstrating how teams with diverse perspectives can offer valuable insights related to climate change. Microbiologists can contribute to transdisciplinary research by expanding their expertise and engaging in efforts to develop scalable technologies and adoptable policies.
Article
Ecology
Jennifer B. H. Martiny, Adam C. Martiny, Eoin Brodie, Alexander B. Chase, Alejandra Rodriguez-Verdugo, Kathleen K. Treseder, Steven D. Allison
Summary: Microorganisms are crucial for biogeochemical processes and ecosystem services, but their functioning is highly sensitive to environmental change. Evolutionary processes could play a role in this response, yet few models consider how microbial evolution affects biogeochemical responses. We propose a framework that integrates evolution into microbiome-functioning relationships, considering four interrelated processes (physiological acclimation, demography, dispersal, and evolution). Recent evidence suggests that ecological and evolutionary dynamics occur simultaneously within microbiomes, but the implications for biogeochemistry under environmental change depend on timescales. Over the long term, evolution may play an increasingly important role in microbially driven biogeochemical responses to unprecedented conditions.
Article
Ecology
Deyi Wang, Gerhard Gebauer, Hans Jacquemyn, Franziska E. Zahn, Sofia I. F. Gomes, Johanna Lorenz, Harrie van der Hagen, Menno Schilthuizen, Vincent S. F. T. Merckx
Summary: The symbiotic associations between orchids and various ecological guilds of fungi provide an ideal study system for understanding the evolution and ecophysiology of mycorrhizal symbiosis. This research investigated the mycorrhizal communities and isotope signatures of a terrestrial orchid, Neottia ovata, growing in different light conditions in Europe. The results suggest that rhizoctonia fungi played a major functional role in carbon and nutrient supply for the orchids, while ectomycorrhizal fungi did not substantially contribute to the plants' carbon budget.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Franziska E. Zahn, Erik Soell, Thomas K. Chapin, Deyi Wang, Sofia I. F. Gomes, Nicole A. Hynson, Johanna Pausch, Gerhard Gebauer
Summary: Stable isotope signatures of fungal pelotons extracted from orchid roots reveal the explicit fungal nutrition source of orchids associated with ectomycorrhizal fungi, while hindering the detection of carbon gains from rhizoctonia-associated orchids and fungal pelotons.
Letter
Plant Sciences
Sofia I. F. Gomes, Philipp Giesemann, Saskia Klink, Colin Hunt, Kenji Suetsugu, Gerhard Gebauer
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christopher B. Wall, Sean O. I. Swift, Carla M. D'Antonio, Gerhard Gebauer, Nicole A. Hynson
Summary: Deforestation and land-use conversion have negative effects on biodiversity. Using a reforestation site and a neighboring remnant forest, this study found that the outplanted N2-fixing trees had higher tree density and lower nitrogen isotope values in the soil and plants compared to the remnant forest, indicating greater biological nitrogen fixation. Additionally, the study found differences in water use efficiency and carbon isotope values, suggesting different plant-water relations and soil carbon contributions between the two forest types.
Article
Communication
Evelyn Valdez-Ward, Robert N. Ulrich, Nic Bennett, Linh Anh Cat, Tamara Marcus, Sunshine Menezes, Allison H. Mattheis, Kathleen K. Treseder
Summary: The dominant U.S. cultural norms influence STEM and science communication, perpetuating oppressive systems. However, there is a lack of inclusive training spaces in science communication that center marginalized identities. To address this, ReclaimingSTEM provides a healing-centered counterspace that focuses on the experiences and needs of people from marginalized communities.
FRONTIERS IN COMMUNICATION
(2023)