Foliar Fungal Endophytes in a Tree Diversity Experiment Are Driven by the Identity but Not the Diversity of Tree Species.

Symbiotic foliar fungal endophytes can have beneficial effects on host trees and might alleviate climate-induced stressors. Whether and how the community of foliar endophytes is dependent on the tree neighborhood is still under debate with contradicting results from different tree diversity experiments. Here, we present our finding regarding the effect of the tree neighborhood from the temperate, densely planted and 12-years-old Kreinitz tree diversity experiment. We used linear models, redundancy analysis, Procrustes analysis and Holm-corrected multiple t-tests to quantify the effects of the plot-level tree neighborhood on the diversity and composition of foliar fungal endophytes in Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea and Picea abies. Against our expectations, we did not find an effect of tree diversity on endophyte diversity. Endophyte composition, however, was driven by the identity of the host species. Thirteen endophytes where overabundant in tree species mixtures, which might indicate frequent spillover or positive interactions between foliar endophytes. The independence of the diversity of endophytes from the diversity of tree species might be attributed to the small plot size and the high density of tree individuals. However, the mechanistic causes for these cryptic relationships still remain to be uncovered.

Responses of stream microbes to multiple anthropogenic stressors in a mesocosm study.

Stream ecosystems are affected by multiple anthropogenic stressors worldwide. Even though effects of many single stressors are comparatively well studied, the effects of multiple stressors are difficult to predict. In particular bacteria and protists, which are responsible for the majority of ecosystem respiration and element flows, are infrequently studied with respect to multiple stressors responses. We conducted a stream mesocosm experiment to characterize the responses of single and multiple stressors on microbiota. Two functionally important stream habitats, leaf litter and benthic phototrophic rock biofilms, were exposed to three stressors in a full factorial design: fine sediment deposition, increased chloride concentration (salinization) and reduced flow velocity. We analyzed the microbial composition in the two habitat types of the mesocosms using an amplicon sequencing approach. Community analysis on different taxonomic levels as well as principle component analyses (PCoAs) based on realtive abundances of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed treatment specific shifts in the eukaryotic biofilm community. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that Bacillariophyta responded positively salinity and sediment increase, while the relative read abundance of chlorophyte taxa decreased. The combined effects of multiple stressors were mainly antagonistic. Therefore, the community composition in multiply stressed environments resembled the composition of the unstressed control community in terms of OTU occurrence and relative abundances.

Flooding Duration Affects the Structure of Terrestrial and Aquatic Microbial Eukaryotic Communities.

The increasing number and duration of inundations is reported to be a consequence of climate change and may severely compromise non-adapted macroorganisms. The effect of flooding events on terrestrial and aquatic microbial communities is, however, less well understood. They may respond to the changed abiotic properties of their native habitat, and the native community may change due to the introduction of alien species. We designed an experiment to investigate the effect of five different flooding durations on the terrestrial and aquatic communities of eukaryotic microorganism, using the AquaFlow mesocosms. With amplicon sequencing of the small subunit (SSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA gene regions, we analyzed community compositions directly before and after flooding. Subsequently, they were monitored for another 28 days, to determine the sustainability of community changes. Our results revealed a temporary increase in similarity between terrestrial and aquatic communities according to OTU composition (operational taxonomic unit, serves as a proxy for species). Increased similarity was mainly caused by the transmission of OTUs from water to soil. A minority of these were able to persist in soil until the end of the experiment. By contrast, the vast majority of soil OTUs was not transmitted to water. Flooding duration affected the community structure (abundance) more than composition (occurrence). Terrestrial communities responded immediately to flooding and the flooding duration influenced the community changes. Independent from flooding duration, all terrestrial communities recovered largely after flooding, indicating a remarkable resilience to the applied disturbances. Aquatic communities responded immediately to the applied inundations too. At the end of the experiment, they grouped according to the applied flooding duration and the amount of ammonium and chloride that leached from the soil. This indicates a sustained long-term response of the aquatic communities to flooding events.

Cryptotrichosporon argae sp. nov., Cryptotrichosporon brontae sp. nov. and Cryptotrichosporon steropae sp. nov., isolated from forest soils.

Yeast strains belonging to the basidiomycetous genus Cryptotrichosporon were isolated from forest soils in Serra da Arrábida Natural Park in Portugal. Similar to the already-known representatives of this genus, the new isolates formed pigmented colonies of a distinctive pale orange colour. Phylogenetic analyses employing concatenated sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the 26S (large subunit) rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region supported the recognition of three novel species: Cryptotrichosporon argae sp. nov. (type strain CM 19T=CBS 14376T=PYCC 7010T=DSM 104550T; MycoBank accession number MB 817168), Cryptotrichosporon brontae sp. nov. (type strain CM 1562T=CBS 14303T=PYCC 7011T=DSM 104551T; MycoBank accession number MB 817077) and Cryptotrichosporon steropae sp. nov. (type strain OR 395T=CBS 14302T=PYCC 7012T=DSM 104552T; MycoBank accession number MB 817078).

Local climatic conditions constrain soil yeast diversity patterns in Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub biome.

Soil yeasts represent a poorly known fraction of the soil microbiome due to limited ecological surveys. Here, we provide the first comprehensive inventory of cultivable soil yeasts in a Mediterranean ecosystem, which is the leading biodiversity hotspot for vascular plants and vertebrates in Europe. We isolated and identified soil yeasts from forested sites of Serra da Arrábida Natural Park (Portugal), representing the Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub biome. Both cultivation experiments and the subsequent species richness estimations suggest the highest species richness values reported to date, resulting in a total of 57 and 80 yeast taxa, respectively. These values far exceed those reported for other forest soils in Europe. Furthermore, we assessed the response of yeast diversity to microclimatic environmental factors in biotopes composed of the same plant species but showing a gradual change from humid broadleaf forests to dry maquis. We observed that forest properties constrained by precipitation level had strong impact on yeast diversity and on community structure and lower precipitation resulted in an increased number of rare species and decreased evenness values. In conclusion, the structure of soil yeast communities mirrors the environmental factors that affect aboveground phytocenoses, aboveground biomass and plant projective cover.

Cystofilobasidium intermedium sp. nov. and Cystofilobasidium alribaticum f.a. sp. nov., isolated from Mediterranean forest soils.

Multiple isolates belonging to the basidiomycetous genus Cystofilobasidium were obtained from forest soils in Serra da Arrábida Natural Park in Portugal. Phylogenetic analyses employing concatenated sequences of the D1/D2 domain and ITS region support the recognition of two novel species: Cystofilobasidium alribaticum f.a., sp. nov. (type strain CBS 14164T = PYCC 6956T = DSM 101473T) and Cystofilobasidium intermedium sp. nov. (type strain CBS 14089T = PYCC 6856T = DSM 101474T). Whereas C. alribaticum f. a. sp. nov. does not form hyphae, even when different strains are crossed, C. intermedium sp. nov. is self-fertile and forms mycelium with teliospores that upon germination give rise to slender basidia. The most remarkable physiological trait of the two novel species is their ability to grow at 35 °C, a property not observed for remaining species of the genus.