Culturable fungal endophytes isolated from the roots of coastal plants inhabiting korean East coast.

Twelve plant species were collected from the east coast of Korea to identify culturable endophytes present in their roots. The fungal internal transcribe spacer (ITS) region (ITS1-5.8SrRNA-ITS2) was used as a DNA barcode for identification of fungi. A total of 194 fungal strains were identified and categorized into 31 genera. The genus Penicillium accounted for the largest number of strains, followed by the genus Aspergillus. Furthermore, using 5 statistical methods, the diversity indices of the fungi were calculated at the genus level. After comprehensive evaluation, the endophytic fungal group from Phragmites australis ranked highest in diversity analyses. Several strains responsible for plant growth and survival (Penicillium citrinum, P. funiculosum, P. janthinellum, P. restrictum, and P. simplicissimum), were also identified. This study provides basic data on the sheds light on the symbiotic relationship between coastal plants and fungi.

Metagenomic analysis of bacterial communities on Dokdo Island.

Dokdo, located east of the mainland of South Korea, is a volcanic island designated as a natural monument of South Korea due to its ecological value. Dokdo is divided into Dongdo and Seodo, islands with geological differences. The soil bacterial communities on Dokdo (Dongdo and Seodo) were analyzed using the pyrosequencing method. There were 1,693 and 1,408 operational taxonomic units (OTU) from Dongdo and Seodo, respectively. The statistical analyses (rarefaction curves as well as Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson indices) showed that bacterial diversity was slightly higher in Dongdo than Seodo. From results of a BLASTN search against the EzTaxon-e database, the validated reads (obtained after sequence preprocessing) were almost all classified at the phylum level. From the phylum level down to the species level, the number of classified reads considerably decreased due to the absence of information concerning unculturable or unidentified bacteria to date. Among the 36 phyla identified, three phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria) accounted for around 74.64%. The taxonomic composition was similar at the higher ranks (family and above) between Dongdo and Seodo, but a little different at the genus level. There were also various differences in the relative abundance of taxonomic ranks between Dongdo and Seodo. In particular, the proportion of the genus Acidobacterium (of the phylum Acidobacteria) was about six times higher in Seodo than Dongdo. In addition, the percentage of the genus Mycobacterium (of the phylum Actinobacteria) was nearly three times higher in Seodo than Dongdo, and the proportion of the genus Gaiella was about 3.7 times higher in Dongdo than Seodo. Overall, through the metagenomic analysis, the number of species identified in Dongdo and Seodo was 1,239 and 1,055, respectively. This information on the numerous culturable and unculturable bacteria is expected to help in the screening of new species in Dokdo.

Metagenomic analysis of fungal communities inhabiting the fairy ring zone of Tricholoma matsutake.

Tricholoma matsutake, an ectomycorrhiza that has mutual relationships with the rootlet of Pinus denisflora, forms a fruiting body that serves as a valuable food in Asia. However, the artificial culture of this fungus has not been successful. Soil fungi, including T. matsutake, coexist with many other microorganisms and plants; therefore, complex microbial communities have an influence on the fruiting body formation of T. matsutake. Here, we report on the structures of fungal communities associated with the fairy ring of T. matsutake through the pyrosequencing method. Soil samples were collected inside the fairy ring zone, in the fairy ring zone, and outside the fairy ring zone. A total of 37,125 sequencing reads were obtained and 728 to 1,962 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed in the sampling zones. The fairy ring zone had the lowest OTUs and the lowest fungal diversity of all sampling zones. The number of OTUs and fungal taxa inside and outside the fairy ring zone was, respectively, about 2 times and 1.5 times higher than the fairy ring. Taxonomic analysis showed that each sampling zone has different fungal communities. In particular, out of 209 genera total, 6 genera in the fairy ring zone, such as Hemimycena, were uniquely present and 31 genera, such as Mycena, Boletopsis, and Repetophragma, were specifically absent. The results of metagenomic analysis based on the pyrosequencing indicate a decrease of fungal communities in the fairy ring zone and changes of fungal communities depending on the fairy ring growth of T. matsutake.