Inoculum 56(4) - Mycological Society of America
Inoculum 56(4) - Mycological Society of America
Inoculum 56(4) - Mycological Society of America
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Johnston, Peter R. Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland, New<br />
Zealand. johnstonp@landcareresearch.co.nz. Estimating fungal diversity - answers<br />
from the subantarctic.<br />
The number <strong>of</strong> fungal species in the world remains an intriguing question<br />
in mycology. Given the level <strong>of</strong> alpha-taxonomic knowledge in most regions, this<br />
number needs to be estimated indirectly. Data from intensively surveyed sites in<br />
the temperate Northern Hemisphere has been used to suggest that fungal diversity<br />
can be estimated by a comparison with plant diversity. A ratio <strong>of</strong> 6 fungal<br />
species to each plant species is <strong>of</strong>ten used. However, the highest levels <strong>of</strong> plant diversity<br />
are in tropical regions. Does the ratio between plant and fungal diversity<br />
estimated from temperate regions also hold for tropical regions? What is the impact<br />
<strong>of</strong> changing levels <strong>of</strong> plant diversity on the 6 fungal:1 plant species ratio? The<br />
subantarctic islands <strong>of</strong> New Zealand, with strong gradients in latitude and plant<br />
species diversity, will be used to address this question. Catalogues <strong>of</strong> fungi for<br />
these islands remain hopelessly incomplete, making it impossible to use allspecies<br />
lists to compare fungal diversity between islands. This talk will discuss a<br />
phylogenetic approach to estimating fungal diversity, using data that suggests<br />
alpha-taxonomic knowedge in the New Zealand region for one intensively surveyed<br />
family, the Rhytismataceae, is close to complete. This data will be used to<br />
assess the impact that changing levels <strong>of</strong> plant diversity might have on estimates<br />
<strong>of</strong> fungal diversity. symposium presentation<br />
Johnston, Peter R. Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland, New<br />
Zealand. johnstonp@landcareresearch.co.nz. Pacific journeys – the dispersal<br />
and evolution <strong>of</strong> Metrosideros-associated fungi.<br />
The rapid dispersal <strong>of</strong> Metrosideros across the Pacific Ocean over the last<br />
2-3 million years provides an opportunity to address questions about the dispersal<br />
and evolution <strong>of</strong> fungal communities. The widely dispersed Metrosideros communities<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Pacific are thought to have radiated out from the New Zealand.<br />
Metrosideros in New Zealand is associated with a large and distinctive fungal<br />
biota. Some fungi are known to have the ability to disperse over long distances.<br />
Have the Metrosideros-adapted fungi <strong>of</strong> New Zealand followed along behind<br />
Metrosideros as it has dispersed? Alternatively, has Metrosideros evolved a series<br />
<strong>of</strong> novel, independent forest communities at each <strong>of</strong> the island’s where it has established?<br />
Preliminary observations <strong>of</strong> fungi associated with ohi’a in Hawai`i suggest<br />
that the second scenario may be correct. Ohi’a does have a set <strong>of</strong> distinctive<br />
and characteristic fungi. Where did they come from? How did they become adapted<br />
to life on ohi’a? What opportunities does the arrival <strong>of</strong> a new host plant present<br />
to fungi already present at a locality? contributed presentation<br />
Jumpponen, Ari. Division <strong>of</strong> Biology, Kansas State Univeristy, Manhattan, KS<br />
66502, USA. ari@ksu.edu. Pitfalls and utilities <strong>of</strong> using molecular detection <strong>of</strong><br />
fungi. Molecular tools are becoming more popular in studying the ecology <strong>of</strong> fungi.<br />
Comparisons <strong>of</strong> a sporocarp survey, on site or bait-seedling mycorrhiza assays, and<br />
direct amplification <strong>of</strong> soil DNA indicate that all but sporocarp survey methods provide<br />
largely congruent views <strong>of</strong> the mycorrhizal community at a low-diversity study<br />
site. Although results using different methods appear congruent, example data sets<br />
indicate that studies sequencing PCR amplicons from environmental samples are<br />
burdened by chimeric molecules that constitute up to 30% <strong>of</strong> all obtained data. Similarly,<br />
choice <strong>of</strong> primers can have a substantial impact on the inferred community<br />
structure. Regardless <strong>of</strong> these potential shortcomings, two case studies show that environmental<br />
DNA data can provide novel insights to fungal community dynamics.<br />
1) A study on soil-inhabiting fungal communities in tallgrass prairie demonstrated<br />
a vast species richness <strong>of</strong> fungi and identified a group <strong>of</strong> potentially novel Ascomycetes<br />
that occurred more frequently in soil than therein imbedded roots. 2) A<br />
study <strong>of</strong> arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonizing tallgrass prairie plant communities<br />
showed a community level response to nitrogen amendment, although root<br />
colonization by AMF was affected only minimally. symposium presentation<br />
Kageyama, Stacie A.*, Bottomley, Peter J., Cromack, Kermit and Myrold, David<br />
D. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. stacie.kageyama@oregonstate.edu.<br />
Changes in soil fungal communities across meadow-forest transects<br />
in the western Cascades mountains <strong>of</strong> Oregon, USA.<br />
Molecular analysis <strong>of</strong> ectomycorrhizal root tips and collection <strong>of</strong> sporocarps<br />
in Pacific Northwest coniferous forests indicate that fungal communities are spatially<br />
heterogeneous. The goal <strong>of</strong> this study was to use molecular techniques to examine<br />
changes in the total belowground fungal community along forest-meadow<br />
transects. We collected soil cores along three transects at two paired high montane<br />
forest-meadow sites at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Western Cascade<br />
Mountains <strong>of</strong> Oregon, USA. We used fungal ITS rDNA primers with length<br />
heterogeneity PCR amplification <strong>of</strong> DNA extracted from soil. Our results agree<br />
with earlier root tip and sporocarp studies that indicate that the forest communities<br />
are spatially heterogeneous. In contrast, the meadow fungal communities exhibit<br />
much more homogeneity in their composition. poster<br />
Kajimura, Hisashi. Lab. <strong>of</strong> Forest Protection, Graduate School <strong>of</strong> Bioagricultural<br />
Sciences, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-860, Japan.<br />
k46326a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp. Symbiotic secrets in ambrosia beetle-fungal<br />
systems.<br />
MSA ABSTRACTS<br />
About 3400 species <strong>of</strong> ambrosia beetles are found in 10 tribes <strong>of</strong> two subfamilies<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Curculionidae, the Platypodinae and the Scolytinae. Ambrosia beetles<br />
vary in life history, but all carry and maintain ectosymbiotic “ambrosia” fungus<br />
spores in specialized organs termed mycangia. They bore tunnels (galleries)<br />
mainly in the sapwood <strong>of</strong> recently killed trees, disseminating the spores over the<br />
wall <strong>of</strong> gallery system. They are considered to have species- specific associations<br />
with primary ambrosia fungi (PAF), on which larvae feed for their development.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> ambrosia fungi are placed in the anamorph genera Ambrosiella or Raffaelea.<br />
However, the fungal symbionts <strong>of</strong> only a small percentage <strong>of</strong> the ambrosia<br />
beetles have been isolated, and it is not clear if the isolated fungi are the PAF. Few<br />
studies also have elucidated relationships between the beetles and the fungi: how<br />
do they encounter and how do they act each other, in spite <strong>of</strong> great importance to<br />
comprehending the symbiotic associations. I review the current state <strong>of</strong> knowledge<br />
on ambrosia beetle-fungal interactions, particularly in the Scolytinae <strong>of</strong><br />
Japan. I also present recent data on the contributions <strong>of</strong> the fungi to the beetle success,<br />
and lay a special emphasis on the fact that PAF associated with one species<br />
<strong>of</strong> ambrosia beetles could have a nutritional potential as food resource for larvae<br />
<strong>of</strong> other beetle species. symposium presentation<br />
Kamada, Takashi. Dept. <strong>of</strong> Biology, Fac. <strong>of</strong> Science, Okayama University,<br />
Okayama 700-8530, Japan. kamada@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp. Genomic studies in<br />
the homobasidiomycete Coprinus cinereus.<br />
The homobasidiomycete Coprinus cinereus has been used as a model to<br />
study fungal development and regulation, because <strong>of</strong> its ease <strong>of</strong> cultivation, its<br />
amenability to genetic analysis, rapid development <strong>of</strong> its multicellular structure,<br />
the mushroom, and its naturally synchronous meiosis in the mushroom. This fungus<br />
has a total genome size <strong>of</strong> ~37.5 Mb, which is organized into 13 chromosomes,<br />
ranging in size from 5 to 1 Mb. The genome project on this fungus has<br />
been done as part <strong>of</strong> the Fungal Genome Initiative in the Whitehead Institute and<br />
the 10X sequence assembly <strong>of</strong> the genome <strong>of</strong> C. cinereus strain Okayama-7 has<br />
been released. Also, a BAC library <strong>of</strong> Okayama-7, component clones <strong>of</strong> which<br />
have been positioned on the sequence assembly, as well as chromosome-specific<br />
cosmid libraries, is available. These lines <strong>of</strong> information, coupled with a wealth <strong>of</strong><br />
developmental mutants identified and existing molecular techniques such as efficient<br />
DNA-mediated transformation, RNAi and detailed gene mapping using<br />
RAPD markers, will facilitate both forward and reverse genetics <strong>of</strong> development<br />
and regulation in this fungus. symposium presentation<br />
Kaminskyj, Susan 1 and Dahms, Tanya E.S. 2 1 Dept. Biology, University <strong>of</strong><br />
Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada, 2 Dept.<br />
Chemistry and Biochemistry, University <strong>of</strong> Regina, 3737, Wascana Parkway,<br />
Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 0A2, Canada. susan.kaminskyj@usask.ca. Probing<br />
life at the hyphal tip: adventures in microscopy.<br />
What we observe and how we interpret it depends on our vantage point.<br />
Since the late 1500s, the development <strong>of</strong> and subsequent technological improvements<br />
in microscopy have changed the fundamentals <strong>of</strong> biology. Microscopy is<br />
important for mycology due to the small size <strong>of</strong> fungal organisms and/or their taxonomically<br />
diagnostic parts, and is relevant to cell biology in general particularly<br />
as fungi are superb model systems. Until the late 1950s, improvements to microscopy<br />
were mostly in resolution (better optical systems, development <strong>of</strong> electron<br />
microscopy), contrast control (differential staining, optical contrasting methods<br />
such as DIC) and information capture (photography). More recently, antibody<br />
tagging (fluorescence and gold), molecular tagging (GFP and chemically-selective<br />
probes), computer enhanced epifluorescent imaging (confocal) and electronic<br />
image capture and analysis have combined to provide in situ identification and<br />
monitoring <strong>of</strong> dynamic biological processes. We are combining established and<br />
newer imaging methods to extend our understanding <strong>of</strong> tip growth in Aspergillus<br />
nidulans hyphae. For example, atomic force microscopy (AFM) can image at<br />
high resolution (comparable to SEM, and better for depth discrimination) and also<br />
examine surface properties by force spectroscopy. Notably, we have used AFM<br />
on growing hyphae, imaging and collecting data on wall properties during tip<br />
growth. Consistent with general models, we demonstrate that the walls at growing<br />
hyphal tips and branches are more significantly more force compliant than<br />
mature regions. symposium presentation<br />
Kaneko, Shuhei. Fukuoka pref. Forest Res. & Exten. Center Japan 1438-2 Toyoda<br />
Yamamoto Kurume-city Fukuoka 839-0827, Japan. shu-k@try-net.or.jp. Cultivation<br />
<strong>of</strong> Pholiota adiposa in the Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica saw dust based<br />
media).<br />
Cultivation <strong>of</strong> the edible mushroom, Pholiota adiposa in the Sugi (Cryptomeria<br />
japonica)saw dust based substrate containing Sugi saw dust, cotton hull,<br />
corn-cob meal and rice bran (Sccr) was investigated. The optimal temperature<br />
range for mycelial growth <strong>of</strong> P.adiposa wild strains was 20-30 C and the optimal<br />
temperature was around 26 C. Growth did not occur at 40 C and all but one strain<br />
named Oninome-B died after 5 days. The optimal initial pH value <strong>of</strong> the cultivation<br />
medium was around 6.5 and various initial pH values converged to 3.5-5.5<br />
after cultivation. The C/N ratio and pH value <strong>of</strong> the Sugi saw dust based substrate<br />
(Sccr) were suitable for mycelial growth and fruit body formation <strong>of</strong> P.adiposa.<br />
Continued on following page<br />
<strong>Inoculum</strong> <strong>56</strong>(4), November 2005 29