No support for occurrence of free-living Cladonia mycobionts in dead wood

Lichenised fungi are traditionally assumed to form obligate symbioses with algae or cyanobacteria and to be confined to the surface of their growing substratum. However, in a recent 454 pyrosequencing study of fungal communities in Picea abies logs, lichen-forming fungi were detected at a depth of m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fungal ecology 2015-04, Vol.14, p.130-132
Main Authors: Tuovinen, Veera, Svensson, Måns, Kubartová, Ariana, Ottosson, Elisabet, Stenlid, Jan, Thor, Göran, Dahlberg, Anders
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
454 pyrosequencing
Asterochloris
Forest Science
Lichen-forming fungi
Saprotrophy
Skogsvetenskap
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Lichenised fungi are traditionally assumed to form obligate symbioses with algae or cyanobacteria and to be confined to the surface of their growing substratum. However, in a recent 454 pyrosequencing study of fungal communities in Picea abies logs, lichen-forming fungi were detected at a depth of more than 6 cm in dead wood, implying the existence of free-living lichen mycobionts. To determine whether this was the case, we investigated whether Cladonia spp., the most frequently encountered mycobionts, occurred in wood without their photobionts. We detected green algae in all samples with records of Cladonia spp. Hence, we found no evidence for free-living Cladonia mycobionts in wood. We suggest that the detected Cladonia DNA in these logs originates from vegetative propagules or thallus fragments dispersed into the logs by animals or water. However, the occurrence of free-living stages of other lichen-forming fungal taxa in dead wood cannot be excluded.
ISSN:1754-5048
1878-0083
DOI:10.1016/j.funeco.2014.12.003