Astraeus odoratus is an edible ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus found in natural dipterocarp forests. The efficacy of two different inoculum types of this fungus, namely, spore suspension and cultured ...mycelium in inducing ECM formation on pot-cultured seedlings of Dipterocarpus alatus was studied. Both types of inocula increased ECM formation. A positive correlation was found between the ECM rate and seedling growth. Both inoculation methods could be used to produce ECM seedlings of D. alatus. Astraeus odoratus merupakan kulat ektomikoriza (ECM) yang boleh dimakan dan dijumpai di hutan dipterokarpa asli. Dua jenis inokulum daripada kulat ini iaitu ampaian spora dan miselium yang dikultur dikaji keberkesanannya mengaruh pembentukan ECM dalam anak benih Dipterocarpus alatus yang ditanam di dalam pasu. Kedua-dua jenis inokulum menggalakkan pembentukan ECM. Korelasi positif dicerap antara kadar pembentukan ECM dengan pertumbuhan anak benih. Kedua-dua kaedah penginokulatan boleh digunakan untuk menghasilkan anak benih D. alatus yang mengandungi ECM.
Effects of ectomycorrhizal fungus Astraeus odoratus on Dipterocarpus alatus seedlings. Astraeus odoratus is an edible ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus found in natural dipterocarp forests. The efficacy ...of two different inoculum types of this fungus, namely, spore suspension and cultured mycelium in inducing ECM formation on pot-cultured seedlings of Dipterocarpus alatus was studied. Both types of inocula increased ECM formation. A positive correlation was found between the ECM rate and seedling growth. Both inoculation methods could be used to produce ECM seedlings of D. alatus. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Salinity is an abiotic factor limiting plant fitness and therefore forest crop productivity, and salt-affected areas have been expanding throughout the world. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi can improve ...the salt tolerance of woody plants, including Eucalyptus species To screen for salt-resistant Pisolithus albus (PA) isolates, 16 PA isolates were cultivated on modified Melin-Norkrans agar containing NaCl at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 30 dS m-1. The P. albus isolate PA33 had the greatest salt resistance under 10 and 20 dS m-1 NaCl, which are soil salinity levels in salt-affected areas of Thailand. We studied the effect of PA33 on Eucalyptus camaldulensis × E. pellita cuttings under salt stress (0 and 16 dS m-1) for 1 month. PA enhanced the growth of the Eucalyptus seedlings, as indicated by higher relative growth rates in height and root collar diameter of inoculated seedlings compared with non-inoculated seedlings. Moreover, the inoculated seedlings had less cell damage from NaCl, as indicated by significantly lesser leaf thickness and electrolyte leakage than the controls. These findings could lead to practices conferring socioeconomic and environmental benefits, as abandoned salt-affected areas could be reclaimed using such Eucalyptus seedlings inoculated with salt-tolerant ECM fungi.Salinity is an abiotic factor limiting plant fitness and therefore forest crop productivity, and salt-affected areas have been expanding throughout the world. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi can improve the salt tolerance of woody plants, including Eucalyptus species To screen for salt-resistant Pisolithus albus (PA) isolates, 16 PA isolates were cultivated on modified Melin-Norkrans agar containing NaCl at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 30 dS m-1. The P. albus isolate PA33 had the greatest salt resistance under 10 and 20 dS m-1 NaCl, which are soil salinity levels in salt-affected areas of Thailand. We studied the effect of PA33 on Eucalyptus camaldulensis × E. pellita cuttings under salt stress (0 and 16 dS m-1) for 1 month. PA enhanced the growth of the Eucalyptus seedlings, as indicated by higher relative growth rates in height and root collar diameter of inoculated seedlings compared with non-inoculated seedlings. Moreover, the inoculated seedlings had less cell damage from NaCl, as indicated by significantly lesser leaf thickness and electrolyte leakage than the controls. These findings could lead to practices conferring socioeconomic and environmental benefits, as abandoned salt-affected areas could be reclaimed using such Eucalyptus seedlings inoculated with salt-tolerant ECM fungi.
Abstract
Mycelia were cultivated from a Thai wild mushroom identified as
Ganoderma australe
based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and morphological analyses
.
The mycelial extracts were examined ...for their active ingredients using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC‒MS/MS) method. This revealed the presence of lovastatin and tentative compounds including
p
-coumaric, nicotinamide, gamma-aminobutyric acid, choline, nucleosides, amino acids, and saccharides. The extracts had an inhibitory effect on the activity of HMG-CoA reductase in a concentration-dependent manner. At 2.5 mg/mL, the
G. australe
extracts did not interfere with the viability of HepG2 spheroids, but their biochemical composition was altered as determined by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The lipid profile of the spheroids treated with the mycelial extract was distinct from that of the control and the 5 µM lovastatin treatment, corresponding with the production of cholesterol by the spheroids. The mycelia of
G. australe
increased the percentage of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) production to 71.35 ± 2.74%, compared to the control and lovastatin-treated spheroids (33.26 ± 3.15% and 32.13 ± 3.24%, respectively). This study revealed the superior effect of natural compound mixtures to pure lovastatin, and the potential use of Thailand’s wild
G. australe
as a functional food to prevent or alleviate hypercholesterolemia.
Kaewgrajang T, Yamato M, Polamart T, Sangwanit U. 2023. A comparison between the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with the natural and plantation populations of Dipterocarpus alatus. ...Biodiversitas 24: 2088-2098. Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb. is a native tree species of Southeast Asian countries and one of the most economically important dipterocarp species. We investigated the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi associated with D. alatus using molecular identifications on putative fruiting bodies and ECM roots collected from three natural forests and 10 D. alatus plantations. In this investigation, we aimed to report the ECM fungal communities of D. alatus in natural forests and plantations. Combining the results of fruiting bodies and ECM roots, 82 taxa belonging to 12 families were identified as ECM fungi. The ECM fungal community comprised many rare species and a few frequently found species. The Sebacina genus was found the most frequently in natural forests and plantations. The ECM fungal diversity was higher in plantations compared to natural forests. However, the frequently occurring ECM fungal taxa were not different between the natural forests and plantations. The result suggests that ECM fungal communities could be maintained in D. alatus plantations even if a reduction occurs in the natural population of dipterocarp forest.
The interplay between long‐term environmental variability and litterfall is complex and through this study, we quantified the response of peak leaf, flower, and fruit litterfall production to such ...variability in a lower montane evergreen forest located in Doi Suthep‐Pui National Park, Thailand. We observed seasonality in litterfall accumulation with peak leaf and flower litterfalls occurring mostly during the cool and hot dry seasons, while fruit litterfall occurs mostly during the wet season. Probable associations with environmental drivers (barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, number of sunlight hours, evaporation, wind speed, and vapor pressure deficit) were tested on a 5‐year litter trap dataset using superposed epoch analysis and Granger causality tests. The tests indicated that significant deviations in barometric pressure, maximum temperature, maximum relative humidity, and wind speed were the most plausible precursors to peak litter production of all components. Additionally, we observed a lag in peak litterfall production relative to climate variability by up to 4 months for most of the climate variables. Changing environmental conditions can affect both the timing and amount of litterfall production, which in turn can alter the nutrient recycling rate and other essential ecosystem services of such forests.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA), of Thailand's capital city, has approximately 1,200 kms of main and sub streets and nearly 3,000 large trees in public places. These trees need management to ...prevent them from potentially falling or dropping branches and so causing injury or damage to property. Unfortunately, in the BMA, very little has been done in terms of managing the street trees, with regards to their general health and vigour, and this has led to significant damage from tree failure. In order to help prioritise the BMA's tasks, a tree risk assessment tool can be used to systematically identify the tree defects and calculate the tree risk rating. This study aimed at generating reliable data for street trees based on the Google Street View (GSV) imagery. A comparison of the GSV survey with field data indicated high levels of agreement in genus and species identification. The overall risk of stem and root could be precisely predicted using the GSV virtual surveys. Unfortunately, identifying the overall crown risk, tree defects, and sizes was difficult and the results inaccurate. In the future, advanced image capturing and processing software can improve the accuracy and precision.
Jannual N, Nipitwattanaphon M, Hasin S, Kaewgrajang T. 2020. Morphological and molecular characterization of Termitomyces (Lyophyllaceae, Agaricales) in Thailand. Biodiversitas 21: 2481-2491. ...Termitomyces is considered to be a highly prized delicacy collected both for home consumption and for sale in local markets. Although the taxonomic information about this genus is well known in Africa, the identification of Termitomyces species in Thailand is unclear. Therefore, this study presented an assessment of phylogenetic relationships in the genus Termitomyces by means of sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and the species characterization by combination of morphological data and molecular data. Total of 61 Termitomyces specimens was collected from a variety of geographical localities of Thailand. They were classified into six species, including T. clypeatus, T. cylindricus, T. fuliginosus, T. heimii, T. microcarpus, and T. striatus based on morphological characteristics combining with molecular characteristics. This is the first diagnostic key of Thai Termitomyces.
In this study, we investigated the effects of the highly prized ectomycorrhizal (ECM) mushroom, Astraeus odoratus, on the growth of Dipterocarpus tuberculatus Roxb. and Shorea roxburghii G. Don ...seedlings. The two seedling species were inoculated using two methods: 1) spore suspension of 25 mL/seedling; and 2) hyphal suspension of 25 mL/seedling. On harvesting, it was found that 30-60% of the roots formed by the inoculated seedlings were ectomycorrhizal roots. Seedling development was influenced by the inoculation method and the host plant species. A higher growth response was observed in the S. roxburghii seedlings inoculated with A. odoratus compared to D. tuberculatus seedlings. Moreover, the non-inoculated S. roxburghii seedlings had a lower growth response than D. tuberculatus seedlings, but their growth response was significantly higher than D. tuberculatus seedlings inoculated with a spore or hyphal suspension of A. odoratus. However, there was no difference between the effects of the spore and hyphal suspension treatments. Therefore, both the inoculation methods can be used to enhance the growth of seedlings, especially that of S. roxburghii.
Choosa-Nga P, Sangwanit U, Kaewgrajang T. 2019. The Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi’s diversity in Fabaceous trees species of Northeastern Thailand. Biodiversitas 20: 405-412. The species diversity of ...arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, found in three Fabaceous tree species, namely, Dalbergia cochinchinensis, Pterocarpus macrocarpus and Xylia xylocarpa, was studied. Sixty rhizosphere soil samples were collected from the tree species plantations, and AM fungal spores were extracted and identified using their morphological characteristics. The spore density and species diversity of the fungi associated with these Fabaceous tree species was assessed. The 11 AM fungi morphospecies identified were Acaulospora (3 species), Glomus (6 species), Sclerocystis (1 species) and Scutellospora (1 species). Meanwhile, three species remained unidentified, which Unknown sp.2 was frequently found in all the three of plantations. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index of the fungal species ranged from 1.40 to 1.88, while the Evenness index ranged from 0.58 to 0.76. The diversity and Evenness index was the highest in the D. cochinchinensis plantation and lowest in the X. xylocarpa plantation. These differences may be due to differences in soil characteristics, including moisture, % organic matter, and nutrient composition. The species composition of AM fungi in the P. macrocarpus plantation was not similar with the D. cochinchinensis and X. xylocarpa plantations. It was indicated that different plant species were hosts to different AM fungal communities. Therefore, further studies are required to select the appropriate AM fungal species which have a positive effect on the growth of the three Fabaceous species when we would like to do the inoculating programs.
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