The soil organic matter decomposition mechanisms in ectomycorrhizal fungi are tuned for liberating soil organic nitrogen.

ABSTRACT: Many trees form ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with fungi. During symbiosis, the tree roots supply sugar to the fungi in exchange for nitrogen, and this process is critical for the nitrogen and carbon cycles in forest ecosystems. However, the extents to which ectomycorrhizal fungi can liberate nitrogen and modify the soil organic matter and the mechanisms by which they do so remain unclear since they have lost many enzymes for litter decomposition that were present in their free-living, saprotrophic ancestors. Using time-series spectroscopy and transcriptomics, we examined the ability of two ectomycorrhizal fungi from two independently evolved ectomycorrhizal lineages to mobilize soil organic nitrogen. Both species oxidized the organic matter and accessed the organic nitrogen. The expression of

SUBMITTER: Nicolas C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6461840 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature