A section of 512 strains from 106 species of wood decay fungi (WDF) collected in Italy is included within MicUNIPV, the reseach culture collection of University of Pavia (Italy). The number of ...detained strains has been continuously updated since 2010, when this core collection started. The strains are representative of the remarkable variety in habitat, climate and land use in Italy, including 59 different plant hosts, either living or dead, as well as different degradation stages and modes. Polyporales, Hymenochaetales and Corticiales are the main wood-decay orders included in this core collection. Few examples of rare or strictly localized species in Italy are Ganoderma pfeifferi, G. valesiacum, Hericium flagellum, Perenniporia meridionalis and Punctularia strigosozonata. Besides these ones, Laricifomes officinalis especially rises conservation issues. The wide taxonomic and ecological spectrum provides with a variety of subjects for different studies in both systematics and applied mycology, as well as for exchanges with other mycologists and private partners in research projects.
Polypores play a crucial role in energy recycling and forest regeneration in forest ecosystems. The majority of them are wood degraders; some are forest pathogens and others are ectomycorrhizal ...symbionts. The basidiocarps provide food and shelter for many organisms, mostly invertebrates, but also some vertebrates, as well as food and medicine for humans. Despite extensive research on the species diversity and phylogenetic relationships of polypores in recent years, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding of their distribution patterns and species composition at the large scale. Checklists of polypores from the tropical zone, including tropical Africa, tropical America, and tropical Asia, were analyzed for species diversity, distribution patterns, major taxa, and nutritional modes. A total of 1,902 polypore species was found in the three regions, representing 8 orders, 46 families, and 250 genera of Agaricomycetes. The orders Polyporales (especially the family Polyporaceae) and Hymenochaetales (especially the family Hymenochaetaceae) had the most prolific taxa, with their species accounting for 93.4% of the total polypores listed. Each of 1,565 (or 82.3%) of the total 1,902 species were found in only one of the three regions studied, and we treat them temporarily as “regional endemic species”. Only 141 species were shared among all three regions, accounting for a mere 7.4%. Tropical Africa and tropical America had the greatest number of shared species and the highest Sørensen similarity index (SC) value. Tropical forests had a higher species richness compared with temperate to boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere, and in addition, also a higher proportion of white rot polypores compared to brown rot and ectomycorrhizal species. This study outlines the distribution patterns and species diversity of polypores in the world, shedding light on their ecological significance in diverse ecosystems.
Most wood‐decay fungi contribute to the healthy functioning of forest ecosystems, whereas others cause infectious diseases of woody plants and high economic losses for forest management. In this ...study, we pursued the hypothesis that pathogenic wood‐rotting Agaricomycetes occur less frequently in undisturbed forests than in managed stands, especially artificial monocultures. The prevalence of two important pathogens, Armillaria spp. and Heterobasidion annosum s.l., was assessed in managed and unmanaged beech, oak and mixed forests, and spruce plantations in South Moravia, Czechia. In addition, the presence of saproparasitic fungi in decayed wood was examined. Identification of fungal species from wood, soil, basidiome and rhizomorph samples was performed by DNA‐based methods. Possible ecological patterns in the distribution of fungi were investigated. Armillaria spp. were ubiquitous; A. cepistipes seems to act as a decomposer, A. gallica is potentially hazardous to oak stands, while A. ostoyae threatens spruce plantations. Basidiomes and epiphytic rhizomorphs of Armillaria were absent in unmanaged stands. Heterobasidion annosum s.s. and H. abietinum basidiocarps were present in 21% and 4% of managed stands, respectively, mostly on conifer stumps. Fomitopsis pinicola, Schizophyllum commune and Stereum spp. were detected in a wide range of hosts and stand types. The results indicate that near‐natural forests are less endangered by root rot disease than monoculture plantations.
Newly enforced trade restrictions on seaweed, have resulted in short supply of technical agar with potential consequences for research, public health, and clinical labs. Here we show that ...microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), with and without an additional carbon source, can be used as an inexpensive growth media for cultivating and maintaining wood decay fungi.
•MFC (microfibrillated cellulose) can be used as an inexpensive growth media for wood decay fungi.•Growth rates of six wood decay fungi on 3 wt% MFC were slower than those on 2% MEA (malt extract agar).•Depending on the fungal strain, growth rates were comparable or significantly enhanced by adding malt or yeast to MFC.
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•A burgundy solid from Eastern red cedar was tested for wood preservation properties.•Wood was treated with combinations of the burgundy solid, cedarwood oil and a starch ...derivative.•The burgundy solid alone had an inhibitory effect on termites and the white-rot Irpex lacteus.•The burgundy solid alone did not inhibit two brown-rot fungi nor the white-rot Trametes versicolor.•The burgundy solid improves the preservation properties of cedarwood oil against wood decay.
Eastern red cedar (ERC) is an abundant natural resource in the U.S. and has been investigated for the extraction of cedarwood oil (CWO) and CWO bioactivity, particularly its use to protect wood against termites and decay fungi. Methanol extraction of ERC sawdust gives a burgundy-colored oil (BO) that is comprised of both CWO and a burgundy solid (BS). The BO was significantly more inhibitory against two species of white-rot decay fungi than CWO alone, suggesting the BS itself might have inhibitory bioactivity. This study investigated the wood preservation properties of the BS alone, in combination with CWO and in conjunction with an amylose inclusion complex (AIC) against termites, brown-rot decay fungi and white-rot decay fungi. Wood was treated by vacuum/pressure impregnation and tested for resistance to subterranean termites and four species of decay fungi. The AIC alone made wood less palatable (16% mass loss versus 32% for H2O) and more toxic (32% mortality versus 26% for H2O) to termites but did not inhibit either brown-rot fungi nor the white-rot Trametes versicolor but did inhibit the white-rot Irpex lacteus (49% mass loss versus 65% for H2O). The CWO led to both lower wood mass loss by termites and higher termite mortality as well as having an inhibitory effect on the white-rot decay fungi. However, a combination of AIC and CWO was necessary to have an inhibitory effect on the brown-rot fungi. The addition of BS to the AIC had a minor inhibitory effect on wood mass loss by termites (11% versus 16% for AIC) but did not inhibit either brown-rot fungi nor the white-rot I. lacteus. The addition of BS to the AIC decreased wood mass loss by the white-rot T. versicolor (38% versus 49% for AIC). Wood blocks impregnated with the combination of the AIC, CWO and BS resulted in the highest termite mortality (i.e., 100%), lowest percentage wood mass loss for the termites (i.e., 6%) and lowest percentage wood mass losses for all four species of wood decay fungi studied (less than 20% overall).
During decomposition of organic matter, microbial communities may follow different successional trajectories depending on the initial environment and colonizers. The timing and order of the species ...arrival (assembly history) can lead to divergent communities through priority effects. We explored how assembly history and resource quality affected fungal communities and decay rate of decomposing wood, 1.5 and 4.5 years after tree felling. Additionally, we investigated the effect of invertebrate exclusion during the first two summers. We measured initial resource quality of bark and wood of aspen (Populus tremula) logs and surveyed the fungal communities by DNA metabarcoding at different times during succession. We found that gradients in fungal community composition were related to resource quality and we discuss how this may reflect different fungal life history strategies. As with previous studies, the initial amount of bark tannins was negatively correlated with wood decomposition rate over 4.5 years. The initial fungal community explained variation in community composition after 1.5, but not 4.5, years of succession. Although the assembly history of initial colonizers may cause alternative trajectories in successional communities, our results indicate that the communities may converge with the arrival of secondary colonizers. We also identified a strong legacy of invertebrate exclusion on fungal communities, even after 4.5 years of succession, thereby adding crucial knowledge on the importance of invertebrates in affecting fungal community development. By measuring and manipulating aspects of assembly history and resource quality that have rarely been studied, we expand our understanding of the complexity of fungal community dynamics.
In temperate systems of the Northern Hemisphere, wood‐decay fungi are known to facilitate cavity excavation by woodpeckers. For South America, woodpecker–fungi interactions have not been explored. ...The aim of this work was to identify wood‐decay fungi associated with the process of cavity excavation by the Magellanic woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus), a large South American picid that excavates on living trees. The survey was conducted in old‐growth Nothofagus pumilio forests of Patagonia. For freshly excavated cavities, wood condition was assessed, adjacent basidiocarps were collected, and fungal cultures were obtained from wood samples taken to the laboratory. All cavities exhibited softened wood. Four Agaricomycotina were isolated in cultures: Stereum hirsutum was the most frequent, followed by Postia pelliculosa, Nothophellinus andinopatagonicus and Aurantiporus albidus. Basidiocarps around cavities were of two species that did not develop in cultures: Laetiporus portentosus and Macrohyporia dictyopora. Excavations were slightly more frequent in white rot colonized than brown rot colonized wood, but this may be an artefact of differential success in fungal isolation and culturing, since several cavities that showed visual symptoms of brown wood rots did not yield mycelia of those wood‐decay fungi. As shown by research elsewhere, basidiocarps underestimated heart rot on cavity walls and revealed additional wood‐decay species living on the same trees; therefore, assessments of fungal diversity in substrates used for cavity excavation should be based on culturing and/or DNA extraction. Because fungal communities in the southern Andes are poorly known, decay fungi and their roles in ecosystem development should be studied across different forest areas, where samples from non‐cavity‐bearing (control) trees should also be taken in order to determine excavation‐site selection.
Wood decay fungi are considered to be dispersed by wind, but dispersal by animals may also be important, and more so in managed forests where dead wood is scarce. We investigated whether beetles ...could disperse spores of the keystone species Fomitopsis pinicola. Beetles were collected on sporocarps and newly felled spruce logs, a favourable habitat for spore deposition. Viable spores (and successful germination) of F. pinicola were detected by dikaryotization of monokaryotic bait mycelium from beetle samples. Viable spores were on the exoskeleton and in the faeces of all beetles collected from sporulating sporocarps. On fresh spruce logs, nine beetle species transported viable spores, of which several bore into the bark. Our results demonstrate that beetles can provide directed dispersal of wood decay fungi. Potentially, it could contribute to a higher persistence of some species in fragmented forests where spore deposition by wind on dead wood is less likely.
Perenniporia fraxinea can colonize living trees and cause severe damage to standing hardwoods by secreting a number of carbohydrate-activate enzymes (CAZymes), unlike other well-studied Polyporales. ...However, significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding the detailed mechanisms for this hardwood-pathogenic fungus. To address this issue, five monokaryotic P. fraxinea strains, SS1 to SS5, were isolated from the tree species Robinia pseudoacacia, and high polysaccharide-degrading activities and the fastest growth were found for
SS3 among the isolates. The whole genome of
SS3 was sequenced, and its unique CAZyme potential for tree pathogenicity was determined in comparison to the genomes of other nonpathogenic Polyporales. These CAZyme features are well conserved in a distantly related tree pathogen, Heterobasidion annosum. Furthermore, the carbon source-dependent CAZyme secretions of
SS3 and a nonpathogenic and strong white-rot Polyporales member, Phanerochaete chrysosporium RP78, were compared by activity measurements and proteomic analyses. As seen in the genome comparisons,
SS3 exhibited higher pectin-degrading activities and higher laccase activities than
RP78, which were attributed to the secretion of abundant glycoside hydrolase family 28 (GH28) pectinases and auxiliary activity family 1_1 (AA1_1) laccases, respectively. These enzymes are possibly related to fungal invasion into the tree lumens and the detoxification of tree defense substances. Additionally,
SS3 showed secondary cell wall degradation capabilities at the same level as that of P. chrysosporium RP78. Overall, this study suggested mechanisms for how this fungus can attack the cell walls of living trees as a serious pathogen and differs from other nonpathogenic white-rot fungi.
Many studies have been done to understand the mechanisms underlying the degradation of plant cell walls of dead trees by wood decay fungi. However, little is known about how some of these fungi weaken living trees as pathogens.
belongs to the Polyporales, a group of strong wood decayers, and is known to aggressively attack and fell standing hardwood trees all over the world. Here, we report CAZymes potentially related to plant cell wall degradation and pathogenesis factors in a newly isolated fungus,
SS3, by genome sequencing in conjunction with comparative genomic and secretomic analyses. The present study provides insights into the mechanisms of the degradation of standing hardwood trees by the tree pathogen, which will contribute to the prevention of this serious tree disease.
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