Project description:Anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter soil biodiversity; however, it remains largely unknown whether changes in soil microeukaryotes (fungi and protists) are primarily driven by direct effects, such as modifications in soil properties, or by indirect effects, such as plant diversity loss. To disentangle these mechanisms, we investigated the long-term effects (11 years) of fertilization and manipulated plant diversity (1, 2, or 4 plant species) on soil microeukaryote communities in a temperate grassland experiment using long-amplicon rRNA sequencing. Our results indicate that fertilization generally had a stronger influence on microeukaryote communities than plant species richness. Fertilization altered the community composition of fungi and protists, increased OTU richness by 20.8% and 52.7%, respectively, and shifted community dominance from fungi to protists. Regarding plant diversity, we observed an effect exclusively on the protist community. Changes were primarily explained by increased plant biomass (driven by both fertilization and plant diversity) and by higher soil phosphorus and lower soil pH levels (driven exclusively by fertilization). Regarding life strategies, we observed synergistic treatment effects: fertilization primarily enhanced fungal saprophytes (only richness), fungal animal pathogens, and protist consumers, whereas plant diversity affected phototrophic protists (reduction) and protist animal pathogens (enhancement). Notably, fertilization and plant diversity decline together led to a cumulative increase in fungal plant pathogens. In conclusion, we highlight that fertilisation alone has a significant effect on soil microeukaryotes, while the additional decline in plant diversity affects different soil groups that are not directly affected by fertilisation. This synergistic pattern indicates that fertilization can influence the entire microeukaryote community through direct and indirect mechanisms, with a cumulative enhancement on certain groups, such as plant pathogens.
Project description:White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. Deeper functional analyses are however necessary to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown. In the present study we analyzed the early response of the Polyporales fungi Pycnoporus coccineus CIRM-BRFM310, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus CIRM-BRFM137 and Pycnoporus sanguineus CIRM-BRFM 1264 to various carbon sources including lignocellulosic biomass.
Project description:White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. Deeper functional analyses are however necessary to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown. In the present study we analyzed the early response of the Polyporales fungi Pycnoporus coccineus CIRM-BRFM310, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus CIRM-BRFM137 and Pycnoporus sanguineus CIRM-BRFM 1264 to various carbon sources including lignocellulosic biomass.
Project description:White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. Deeper functional analyses are however necessary to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown. In the present study we analyzed the early response of the Polyporales fungi Pycnoporus coccineus CIRM-BRFM310, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus CIRM-BRFM137 and Pycnoporus sanguineus CIRM-BRFM 1264 to various carbon sources including lignocellulosic biomass.
Project description:White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. In order to improve our understanding on the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown, we analysed the early response of the white-rot fungus Pycnoporus coccineus CIRM-BRFM310 to various lignocellulosic substrates at two time points; Day 3 and Day 7.