Metabarcoding reveals ecologically distinct fungal assemblages in river and groundwater along an Austrian alpine to lowland gradient.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity, the source of origin, and ecological roles of fungi in groundwater are to this day a largely neglected field in fungal and freshwater ecology. We used DNA-based Illumina high-throughput sequence analysis of both fungal gene markers 5.8S and internal transcribed spacers region 2 (ITS2), improving taxonomic classification. This study focused on the groundwater and river mycobiome along an altitudinal and longitudinal transect of a pre-alpine valley in Austria in two seasons. Using Bayesian network modeling approaches, we identified patterns in fungal community assemblages that were mostly shaped by differences in landscape (climatic, topological, and geological) and environmental conditions. While river fungi were comparatively more diverse, unique fungal assemblages could be r

SUBMITTER: Retter A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11523079 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature