Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees

The role of microbiome in tree health is receiving increasing interest in forest pathology research. This study focuses on the abundance and diversity of fungal endophytes in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) differentiating in vitality. Earlier studies with peri-urban, young oak trees have indicat...

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Autor principal: Matule, Baiba
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SLU/Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre 2018
Materias:
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author Matule, Baiba
author_browse Matule, Baiba
author_facet Matule, Baiba
author_sort Matule, Baiba
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description The role of microbiome in tree health is receiving increasing interest in forest pathology research. This study focuses on the abundance and diversity of fungal endophytes in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) differentiating in vitality. Earlier studies with peri-urban, young oak trees have indicated that fungal endophyte diversity in woody tissues of oaks is lower in highly vital trees. In this thesis, the hypothesis that declining trees harbour a higher fungal diversity was tested in a production forest setting, using older trees. To test the hypothesis, endophytes were isolated from bark and xylem of Quercus robur L., using two types of agar-media to select for a broad range of fungi. Based on the morphological characters of the colonies the isolates grouped into 38 morphotypes and a group of singletons, and the frequency and diversity of fungi in different tissue types (bark and xylem of differently vital trees) was compared. The results indicate that endophyte communities of Quercus robur L. xylem and bark are more diverse in trees showing some symptoms of decline in comparison to the seemingly healthy-looking trees, but that the diversity was reduced in the most strongly declined trees. In addition, the results confirmed the earlier findings showing that bark associated endophyte communities are more diverse than xylem associated communities. I also found that samples of water agar harbored different assemblage of morphotypes comparing to malt extract agar. Future studies are required to characterize fungal endophyte communities in order to evaluate the interactions that take place within the complex, understudied networks and apply them in ecosystem management.
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spelling RepoSLU136962019-02-26T12:09:47Z Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees Matule, Baiba endophytic fungi diversity forest microbiome morphological identification of fungi Quercus robur L. plant-endophyte interaction The role of microbiome in tree health is receiving increasing interest in forest pathology research. This study focuses on the abundance and diversity of fungal endophytes in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) differentiating in vitality. Earlier studies with peri-urban, young oak trees have indicated that fungal endophyte diversity in woody tissues of oaks is lower in highly vital trees. In this thesis, the hypothesis that declining trees harbour a higher fungal diversity was tested in a production forest setting, using older trees. To test the hypothesis, endophytes were isolated from bark and xylem of Quercus robur L., using two types of agar-media to select for a broad range of fungi. Based on the morphological characters of the colonies the isolates grouped into 38 morphotypes and a group of singletons, and the frequency and diversity of fungi in different tissue types (bark and xylem of differently vital trees) was compared. The results indicate that endophyte communities of Quercus robur L. xylem and bark are more diverse in trees showing some symptoms of decline in comparison to the seemingly healthy-looking trees, but that the diversity was reduced in the most strongly declined trees. In addition, the results confirmed the earlier findings showing that bark associated endophyte communities are more diverse than xylem associated communities. I also found that samples of water agar harbored different assemblage of morphotypes comparing to malt extract agar. Future studies are required to characterize fungal endophyte communities in order to evaluate the interactions that take place within the complex, understudied networks and apply them in ecosystem management. SLU/Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre 2018 H2 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13696/
spellingShingle endophytic fungi diversity
forest microbiome
morphological identification of fungi
Quercus robur L.
plant-endophyte interaction
Matule, Baiba
Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title_full Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title_fullStr Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title_full_unstemmed Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title_short Fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (Quercus robur L.) trees
title_sort fungal endophyte communities in declining and vital oak (quercus robur l.) trees
topic endophytic fungi diversity
forest microbiome
morphological identification of fungi
Quercus robur L.
plant-endophyte interaction