1. |
- Abarenkov, Kessy, et al.
(author)
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The UNITE database for molecular identification and taxonomic communication of fungi and other eukaryotes: sequences, taxa and classifications reconsidered
- 2024
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In: Nucleic Acids Research. - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 52:D1, s. D791-D797
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- UNITE (https://unite.ut.ee) is a web-based database and sequence management environment for molecular identification of eukaryotes. It targets the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and offers nearly 10 million such sequences for reference. These are clustered into similar to 2.4M species hypotheses (SHs), each assigned a unique digital object identifier (DOI) to promote unambiguous referencing across studies. UNITE users have contributed over 600 000 third-party sequence annotations, which are shared with a range of databases and other community resources. Recent improvements facilitate the detection of cross-kingdom biological associations and the integration of undescribed groups of organisms into everyday biological pursuits. Serving as a digital twin for eukaryotic biodiversity and communities worldwide, the latest release of UNITE offers improved avenues for biodiversity discovery, precise taxonomic communication and integration of biological knowledge across platforms. Graphical Abstract
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2. |
- Abrego, Nerea, et al.
(author)
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Airborne DNA reveals predictable spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi
- 2024
-
In: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 631, s. 835-842
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungi are among the most diverse and ecologically important kingdoms in life. However, the distributional ranges of fungi remain largely unknown as do the ecological mechanisms that shape their distributions1,2. To provide an integrated view of the spatial and seasonal dynamics of fungi, we implemented a globally distributed standardized aerial sampling of fungal spores3. The vast majority of operational taxonomic units were detected within only one climatic zone, and the spatiotemporal patterns of species richness and community composition were mostly explained by annual mean air temperature. Tropical regions hosted the highest fungal diversity except for lichenized, ericoid mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi, which reached their peak diversity in temperate regions. The sensitivity in climatic responses was associated with phylogenetic relatedness, suggesting that large-scale distributions of some fungal groups are partially constrained by their ancestral niche. There was a strong phylogenetic signal in seasonal sensitivity, suggesting that some groups of fungi have retained their ancestral trait of sporulating for only a short period. Overall, our results show that the hyperdiverse kingdom of fungi follows globally highly predictable spatial and temporal dynamics, with seasonality in both species richness and community composition increasing with latitude. Our study reports patterns resembling those described for other major groups of organisms, thus making a major contribution to the long-standing debate on whether organisms with a microbial lifestyle follow the global biodiversity paradigms known for macroorganisms4,5.
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3. |
- Alm Rosenblad, Magnus, 1957, et al.
(author)
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Detection of signal recognition particle (SRP) RNAs in the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of three lineages of ectomycorrhizal fungi (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota)
- 2016
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In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 13, s. 21-33
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During a routine scan for Signal Recognition Particle (SRP) RNAs in eukaryotic sequences, we surprisingly found in silico evidence in GenBank for a 265-base long SRP RNA sequence in the ITS1 region of a total of 11 fully identified species in three ectomycorrhizal genera of the Basidiomycota (Fungi): Astraeus, Russula, and Lactarius. To rule out sequence artifacts, one specimen from a species indicated to have the SRP RNA-containing ITS region in each of these genera was ordered and re-sequenced. Sequences identical to the corresponding GenBank entries were recovered, or in the case of a non-original but conspecific specimen differed by three bases, showing that these species indeed have an SRP RNA sequence incorporated into their ITS1 region. Other than the ribosomal genes, this is the first known case of non-coding RNAs in the eukaryotic ITS region, and it may assist in the examination of other types of insertions in fungal genomes.
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4. |
- Anslan, Sten, et al.
(author)
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Great differences in performance and outcome of high-throughput sequencing data analysis platforms for fungal metabarcoding
- 2018
-
In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 39, s. 29-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Along with recent developments in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies and thus fast accumulation of HTS data, there has been a growing need and interest for developing tools for HTS data processing and communication. In particular, a number of bioinformatics tools have been designed for analysing metabarcoding data, each with specific features, assumptions and outputs. To evaluate the potential effect of the application of different bioinformatics workflow on the results, we compared the performance of different analysis platforms on two contrasting high-throughput sequencing data sets. Our analysis revealed that the computation time, quality of error filtering and hence output of specific bioinformatics process largely depends on the platform used. Our results show that none of the bioinformatics workflows appears to perfectly filter out the accumulated errors and generate Operational Taxonomic Units, although PipeCraft, LotuS and PIPITS perform better than QIIME2 and Galaxy for the tested fungal amplicon dataset. We conclude that the output of each platform requires manual validation of the OTUs by examining the taxonomy assignment values.
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5. |
- Anslan, Sten, et al.
(author)
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PipeCraft : Flexible open-source toolkit for bioinformatics analysis of custom high-throughput amplicon sequencing data
- 2017
-
In: Molecular Ecology Resources. - : Wiley. - 1755-098X .- 1755-0998. ; 17:6, s. e234-e240
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-throughput sequencing methods have become a routine analysis tool in environmental sciences as well as in public and private sector. These methods provide vast amount of data, which need to be analysed in several steps. Although the bioinformatics may be applied using several public tools, many analytical pipelines allow too few options for the optimal analysis for more complicated or customized designs. Here, we introduce PipeCraft, a flexible and handy bioinformatics pipeline with a user-friendly graphical interface that links several public tools for analysing amplicon sequencing data. Users are able to customize the pipeline by selecting the most suitable tools and options to process raw sequences from Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, Ion Torrent and Roche 454 sequencing platforms. We described the design and options of PipeCraft and evaluated its performance by analysing the data sets from three different sequencing platforms. We demonstrated that PipeCraft is able to process large data sets within 24hr. The graphical user interface and the automated links between various bioinformatics tools enable easy customization of the workflow. All analytical steps and options are recorded in log files and are easily traceable.
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6. |
- Anslan, Sten, et al.
(author)
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Seasonal and annual variation in fungal communities associated with epigeic springtails (Collembola spp.) in boreal forests
- 2018
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In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0038-0717 .- 1879-3428. ; 116, s. 245-252
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soil fauna mediate nutrient cycling through engineering physical properties and altering microbial commtmities in soil. Collembola is one of the most abundant groups of soil fauna, which regulates microbial communities by consumption and dispersal. The spatial structure of associations between Collembola and soil microbes have been described in several studies, but temporal variation of these associations remains unclear. Using high throughput sequencing, we studied the fungal communities on Collembola (Entomobiya nivalis, Orchesella flavescens, Pogonognathellus longicornis) body surface, gut and their immediate habitat (topsoil samples) in four seasons across three years. The soil samples were characterized by fairly uniform relative abundance of saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi, whereas collembolans were associated mostly with saprotrophs. The structure of fungal communities from all substrate types exhibited comparable patterns of temporal distance decay of shnilarity. Unlike in soil, fungal richness and composition in Collembola body and gut samples exhibited seasonal and annual variation, with a significant interaction term, indicating low predictability. These results reflect spatial and temporal plasticity of the fungal communities associated with epigeic Collembola, indicating the high adaptability of collembolans to available conditions. We found that the Collembola associations with fungi (including diet) did not vary among the studied epigeic Collembola species. The detected high diversity of fungi associated with Collembola suggests that dispersal by arthropod vectors may represent a powerful alternative to aerial dispersal of fungal propagules.
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7. |
- Anslan, Sten, et al.
(author)
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Temporal changes in fungal communities associated with guts and appendages of Collembola as based on culturing and high-throughput sequencing
- 2016
-
In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0038-0717 .- 1879-3428. ; 96, s. 152-159
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Due to high abundance and feeding habits, invertebrates are of great importance for shaping microbial communities at the fine scale. Springtails (Collembola) that feed on fungal spores and mycelia may contribute to dispersal through carrying fungal propagules in their guts or on their appendages. The Collembola–fungal associations are mainly investigated by microscopy or culturing techniques, which allow identify only fungi that have distinctive morphological characteristics or that can be cultured in vitro. Here we identified the Collembola-associated fungi on the body surface and in the gut content using both culturing and high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods. We studied three epigeic Collembola species found on the Norway spruce dominated forest stands throughout the vegetation period – Entomobrya nivalis, Orchesella flavescens andPogonognathellus longicornis. We discovered over 1200 fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs), i.e. the proxies for species, based on 97% sequence similarity of the ITS2 subregion of ribosomal DNA. Most of the fungi were saprotrophs, but we detected also mycorrhizal, parasitic and lichenized fungi. Season was the most important factor affecting fungal richness and composition, especially on body surface. Although the data matrix revealed significant effect of substrate, we were unable to detect the significant fungal community differences between body surface and gut samples of conspecifics. There were no significant differences among studied epigeic Collembola species in the preference for fungal diet. Our study demonstrates that collembolans associate with a broader range of fungi than previously observed and thus potentially play an important role in enhancing fungal colonization through dispersal activities.
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8. |
- Bahram, Mohammad, et al.
(author)
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Newly designed 16S rRNA metabarcoding primers amplify diverse and novel archaeal taxa from the environment
- 2019
-
In: Environmental Microbiology Reports. - : WILEY. - 1758-2229. ; 11:4, s. 487-494
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-throughput studies of microbial communities suggest that Archaea are a widespread component of microbial diversity in various ecosystems. However, proper quantification of archaeal diversity and community ecology remains limited, as sequence coverage of Archaea is usually low owing to the inability of available prokaryotic primers to efficiently amplify archaeal compared to bacterial rRNA genes. To improve identification and quantification of Archaea, we designed and validated the utility of several primer pairs to efficiently amplify archaeal 16S rRNA genes based on up-to-date reference genes. We demonstrate that several of these primer pairs amplify phylogenetically diverse Archaea with high sequencing coverage, outperforming commonly used primers. Based on comparing the resulting long 16S rRNA gene fragments with public databases from all habitats, we found several novel family- to phylum-level archaeal taxa from topsoil and surface water. Our results suggest that archaeal diversity has been largely overlooked due to the limitations of available primers, and that improved primer pairs enable to estimate archaeal diversity more accurately.
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9. |
- Bahram, Mohammad, et al.
(author)
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Stochastic distribution of small soil eukaryotes resulting from high dispersal and drift in a local environment
- 2016
-
In: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 10, s. 885-896
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A central challenge in ecology is to understand the relative importance of processes that shape diversity patterns. Compared with aboveground biota, little is known about spatial patterns and processes in soil organisms. Here we examine the spatial structure of communities of small soil eukaryotes to elucidate the underlying stochastic and deterministic processes in the absence of environmental gradients at a local scale. Specifically, we focus on the fine-scale spatial autocorrelation of prominent taxonomic and functional groups of eukaryotic microbes. We collected 123 soil samples in a nested design at distances ranging from 0.01 to 64 m from three boreal forest sites and used 454 pyrosequencing analysis of Internal Transcribed Spacer for detecting Operational Taxonomic Units of major eukaryotic groups simultaneously. Among the main taxonomic groups, we found significant but weak spatial variability only in the communities of Fungi and Rhizaria. Within Fungi, ectomycorrhizas and pathogens exhibited stronger spatial structure compared with saprotrophs and corresponded to vegetation. For the groups with significant spatial structure, autocorrelation occurred at a very fine scale (<2 m). Both dispersal limitation and environmental selection had a weak effect on communities as reflected in negative or null deviation of communities, which was also supported by multivariate analysis, that is, environment, spatial processes and their shared effects explained on average <10% of variance. Taken together, these results indicate a random distribution of soil eukaryotes with respect to space and environment in the absence of environmental gradients at the local scale, reflecting the dominant role of drift and homogenizing dispersal.
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10. |
- Bahram, Mohammad, et al.
(author)
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The distance decay of similarity in communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi in different ecosystems and scales
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 101:5, s. 1335-1344
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite recent advances in understanding community ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungi, little is known about their spatial patterning and the underlying mechanisms driving these patterns across different ecosystems. * This meta-study aimed to elucidate the scale, rate and causes of spatial structure of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in different ecosystems by analysing 16 and 55 sites at the local and global scales, respectively. We examined the distance decay of similarity relationship in species- and phylogenetic lineage-based communities in relation to sampling and environmental variables. * Tropical ectomycorrhizal fungal communities exhibited stronger distance-decay patterns compared to non-tropical communities. Distance from the equator and sampling area were the main determinants of the extent of distance decay in fungal communities. The rate of distance decay was negatively related to host density at the local scale. At the global scale, lineage-level community similarity decayed faster with latitude than with longitude. * Synthesis. Spatial processes play a stronger role and over a greater scale in structuring local communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi than previously anticipated, particularly in ecosystems with greater vegetation age and closer to the equator. Greater rate of distance decay occurs in ecosystems with lower host density that may stem from increasing dispersal and establishment limitation. The relatively strong latitude effect on distance decay of lineage-level community similarity suggests that climate affects large-scale spatial processes and may cause phylogenetic clustering of ectomycorrhizal fungi at the global scale.
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11. |
- Bálint, Miklós, et al.
(author)
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Millions of reads, thousands of taxa : microbial community structure and associations analyzed via marker genes
- 2016
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In: FEMS Microbiology Reviews. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0168-6445 .- 1574-6976. ; 40:5, s. 686-700
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With high-throughput sequencing (HTS), we are able to explore the hidden world of microscopic organisms to an unpre-cedented level. The fast development of molecular technology and statistical methods means that microbial ecologists must keep their toolkits updated. Here, we review and evaluate some of the more widely adopted and emerging techniques for analysis of diversity and community composition, and the inference of species interactions from co-occurrence data generated by HTS of marker genes. We emphasize the importance of observational biases and statistical properties of the data and methods. The aim of the review is to critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of established and emerging statistical methods, and to contribute to the integration of HTS-based marker gene data into community ecology.
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12. |
- Barceló, Milagros, et al.
(author)
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Mycorrhizal tree impacts on topsoil biogeochemical properties in tropical forests
- 2022
-
In: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 110:6, s. 1271-1282
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In tropical regions, the patterns of carbon (C) and nutrient properties among ecosystems dominated by distinct mycorrhizal associations are unknown. We aim to reveal whether the dynamics differ and the ecological drivers and ecosystem functioning implications of such differences. Based on a dataset of 97 tropical forest sites, we related EcM trees abundance (as a proxy for the transition from AM to EcM trees dominance) to different topsoil properties, climatic conditions and microbial abundance proxies through Generalized Additive Models. Higher abundances of EcM trees were correlated with higher topsoil concentrations of total nitrogen and C, extractable phosphorus and potassium, δ13C, mean annual temperature, precipitation, microbial (bacterial and fungal) biomass and the relative abundance of saprotrophic fungi. Synthesis. Our results reveal consistent differences in carbon and nutrient content between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM-) and EcM-dominated vegetation across the tropical biome, pointing to lower soil fertility and lower rates of C and nutrient transformation processes in EcM-dominated forests. These patterns associate with lower topsoil C accumulation when compared to AM vegetation, which contrasts with patterns reported for temperate forests. We suggest that different mechanisms of soil organic matter accumulation explain the contrasting impacts of EcM dominance on topsoil properties of temperate and tropical biomes. Global vegetation and C models should account for the contrasting impacts of distinct mycorrhizal vegetation in different climatic zones.
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13. |
- Cao, Bin, et al.
(author)
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Delimiting species in Basidiomycota : a review
- 2021
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In: Fungal diversity. - : Springer Nature. - 1560-2745 .- 1878-9129. ; 109:1, s. 181-237
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Species delimitation is one of the most fundamental processes in biology. Biodiversity undertakings, for instance, require explicit species concepts and criteria for species delimitation in order to be relevant and translatable. However, a perfect species concept does not exist for Fungi. Here, we review the species concepts commonly used in Basidiomycota, the second largest phylum of Fungi that contains some of the best known species of mushrooms, rusts, smuts, and jelly fungi. In general, best practice is to delimitate species, publish new taxa, and conduct taxonomic revisions based on as many independent lines of evidence as possible, that is, by applying a so-called unifying (or integrative) conceptual framework. However, the types of data used vary considerably from group to group. For this reason we discuss the different classes of Basidiomycota, and for each provide: (i) a general introduction with difficulties faced in species recognition, (ii) species concepts and methods for species delimitation, and (iii) community recommendations and conclusions.
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14. |
- Gohar, Daniyal, et al.
(author)
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Global diversity and distribution of mushroom-inhabiting bacteria
- 2022
-
In: Environmental Microbiology Reports. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1758-2229. ; 14:2, s. 254-264
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mushroom-forming fungi are important sources of food and medicine in many regions of the world, and their development and health are known to depend on various microbes. Recent studies have examined the structure of mushroom-inhabiting bacterial (MIB) communities and their association with local environmental variables, but global-scale diversity and determinants of these communities remain poorly understood. Here we examined the MIB global diversity and community composition in relation to climate, soil and host factors. We found a core global mushroom microbiome, accounting for 30% of sequence reads, while comprising a few bacterial genera such as Halomonas, Serratia, Bacillus, Cutibacterium, Bradyrhizobium and Burkholderia. Our analysis further revealed an important role of host phylogeny in shaping the communities of MIB, whereas the effects of climate and soil factors remained negligible. The results suggest that the communities of MIB and free-living bacteria are structured by contrasting community assembly processes and that fungal-bacterial interactions are an important determinant of MIB community structure.
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15. |
- He, Liyuan, et al.
(author)
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Global biogeography of fungal and bacterial biomass carbon in topsoil
- 2020
-
In: Soil Biology and Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0038-0717. ; 151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bacteria and fungi, representing two major soil microorganism groups, play an important role in global nutrient biogeochemistry. Biogeographic patterns of bacterial and fungal biomass are of fundamental importance for mechanistically understanding nutrient cycling. We synthesized 1323 data points of phospholipid fatty acid-derived fungal biomass C (FBC), bacterial biomass C (BBC), and fungi:bacteria (F:B) ratio in topsoil, spanning 11 major biomes. The FBC, BBC, and F:B ratio display clear biogeographic patterns along latitude and environmental gradients including mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, net primary productivity, root C density, soil temperature, soil moisture, and edaphic factors. At the biome level, tundra has the highest FBC and BBC densities at 3684 (95% confidence interval: 1678–8084) mg kg−1 and 428 (237–774) mg kg−1, respectively; desert has the lowest FBC and BBC densities at 16.92 (14.4–19.89) mg kg−1 and 6.83 (6.1–7.65) mg kg−1, respectively. The F:B ratio varies dramatically, ranging from 1.8 (1.6–2.1) in savanna to 8.6 (6.7–11.0) in tundra. An empirical model was developed for the F:B ratio and it is combined with a global dataset of soil microbial biomass C to produce global maps for FBC and BBC in 0–30 cm topsoil. Across the globe, the highest FBC is found in boreal forest and tundra while the highest BBC is in boreal forest and tropical/subtropical forest, the lowest FBC and BBC are in shrub and desert. Global stocks of living microbial biomass C were estimated to be 12.6 (6.6–16.4) Pg C for FBC and 4.3 (0.5–10.3) Pg C for BBC in topsoil. These findings advance our understanding of the global distribution of fungal and bacterial biomass, which facilitates the incorporation of fungi and bacteria into Earth system models. The global maps of bacterial and fungal biomass serve as a benchmark for validating microbial models in simulating the global C cycle under a changing climate.
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16. |
- He, Mao Qiang, et al.
(author)
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Phylogenomics, divergence times and notes of orders in Basidiomycota
- 2024
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In: Fungal Diversity. - 1560-2745 .- 1878-9129. ; 126, s. 127-406
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Basidiomycota is one of the major phyla in the fungal tree of life. The outline of Basidiomycota provides essential taxonomic information for researchers and workers in mycology. In this study, we present a time-framed phylogenomic tree with 487 species of Basidiomycota from 127 families, 47 orders, 14 classes and four subphyla; we update the outline of Basidiomycota based on the phylogenomic relationships and the taxonomic studies since 2019; and we provide notes for each order and discuss the history, defining characteristics, evolution, justification of orders, problems, significance, and plates. Our phylogenomic analysis suggests that the subphyla diverged in a time range of 443–490 Myr (million years), classes in a time range of 312–412 Myr, and orders in a time range of 102–361 Myr. Families diverged in a time range of 50–289 Myr, 76–224 Myr, and 62–156 Myr in Agaricomycotina, Pucciniomycotina, and Ustilaginomycotina, respectively. Based on the phylogenomic relationships and divergence times, we propose a new suborder Mycenineae in Agaricales to accommodate Mycenaceae. In the current outline of Basidiomycota, there are four subphyla, 20 classes, 77 orders, 297 families, and 2134 genera accepted. When building a robust taxonomy of Basidiomycota in the genomic era, the generation of molecular phylogenetic data has become relatively easier. Finding phenotypical characters, especially those that can be applied for identification and classification, however, has become increasingly challenging.
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17. |
- Hiiesalu, Indrek, et al.
(author)
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Plant species richness and productivity determine the diversity of soil fungal guilds in temperate coniferous forest and bog habitats
- 2017
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 26:18, s. 4846-4858
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungi have important roles as decomposers, mycorrhizal root symbionts and pathogens in forest ecosystems, but there is limited information about their diversity and composition at the landscape scale. This work aimed to disentangle the factors underlying fungal richness and composition along the landscape-scale moisture, organic matter and productivity gradients. Using high-throughput sequencing, we identified soil fungi from 54 low-productivity Pinus sylvestris-dominated plots across three study areas in Estonia and determined the main predictors of fungal richness based on edaphic, floristic and spatial variables. Fungal richness displayed unimodal relationship with organic matter and deduced soil moisture. Plant richness and productivity constituted the key predictors for taxonomic richness of functional guilds. Composition of fungi and the main ectomycorrhizal fungal lineages and hyphal exploration types was segregated by moisture availability and soil nitrogen. We conclude that plant productivity and diversity determine the richness and proportion of most functional groups of soil fungi in low-productive pine forests on a landscape scale. Adjacent stands of pine forest may differ greatly in the dominance of functional guilds that have marked effects on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling in these forest ecosystems.
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18. |
- Hyde, Kevin D., et al.
(author)
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Incorporating molecular data in fungal systematics: a guide for aspiring researchers
- 2013
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In: Current Research in Environmental and Applied Mycology. - : Mushroom Research Foundation. - 2229-2225. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The last twenty years have witnessed molecular data emerge as a primary research instrument in most branches of mycology. Fungal systematics, taxonomy, and ecology have all seen tremendous progress and have undergone rapid, far-reaching changes as disciplines in the wake of continual improvement in DNA sequencing technology. A taxonomic study that draws from molecular data involves a long series of steps, ranging from taxon sampling through the various laboratory procedures and data analysis to the publication process. All steps are important and influence the results and the way they are perceived by the scientific community. The present paper provides a reflective overview of all major steps in such a project with the purpose to assist research students about to begin their first study using DNA-based methods. We also take the opportunity to discuss the role of taxonomy in biology and the life sciences in general in the light of molecular data. While the best way to learn molecular methods is to work side by side with someone experienced, we hope that the present paper will serve to lower the learning threshold for the reader.
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19. |
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20. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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21. |
- Kohout, Petr, et al.
(author)
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Elevation, space and host plant species structure Ericaceae root-associated fungal communities in Papua New Guinea
- 2017
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In: Fungal ecology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1754-5048 .- 1878-0083. ; 30, s. 112-121
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Our study aimed to identify significant predictors (spatial distance, elevation, host plant taxonomy) which shape the structure of endophytic fungal (ENDF) and putative ericoid mycorrhizal (ErMF) communities associated with roots of Ericaceae in Papua New Guinea. Roots of five Ericaceae together with one non-Ericaceae species were sampled at an experimental site and one common Ericaceae species was chosen for sampling along an elevation gradient. ENDF and putative ErMF communities were determined using the 454-sequencing approach. ENDF as well as putative ErMF communities were affected by interacting host plant. While the putative ErMF community was structured by host plants at the genus level, the ENDF community was affected by host plant subfamily level. Composition of ENDF as well as putative ErMF communities were affected by elevation. Non-Ericaceae plant species (Hypericum sp.) harbored similar communities of ENDF as well as putative ErMF as Ericaceae plants. Our study provides a first insight into ErMF and ENDF community ecology of Ericaceae in Papua New Guinea.
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22. |
- Kohout, Petr, et al.
(author)
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Ericaceous dwarf shrubs affect ectomycorrhizal fungal community of the invasive Pinus strobus and native Pinus sylvestris in a pot experiment.
- 2011
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In: Mycorrhiza. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0940-6360 .- 1432-1890. ; 21:5, s. 403-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between ericaceous understorey shrubs and the diversity and abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) associated with the invasive Pinus strobus and native Pinus sylvestris. Seedlings of both pines were grown in mesocosms and subjected to three treatments simulating different forest microhabitats: (a) grown in isolation and grown with (b) Vaccinium myrtillus or (c) Vaccinium vitis-idaea. Ericaceous plants did not act as a species pool of pine mycobionts and inhibited the ability of the potentially shared species Meliniomyces bicolor to form ectomycorrhizae. Similarly, Ericaceae significantly reduced the formation of Thelephora terrestris ectomycorrhizae in P. sylvestris. EcMF species composition in the mesocosms was strongly affected by both the host species and the presence of an ericaceous neighbour. When grown in isolation, P. strobus root tips were predominantly colonised by Wilcoxina mikolae, whereas those of P. sylvestris were more commonly colonised by Suillus and Rhizopogon spp. Interestingly, these differences were less evident (Suillus + Rhizopogon spp.) or absent (W. mikolae) when the pines were grown with Ericaceae. P. strobus exclusively associated with Rhizopogon salebrosus s.l., suggesting the presence of host specificity at the intrageneric level. Ericaceous plants had a positive effect on colonisation of P. strobus root tips by R. salebrosus s.l. This study demonstrates that the interaction of selective factors such as host species and presence of ericaceous plants may affect the realised niche of the ectomycorrhizal fungi.
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23. |
- Kohout, Petr, et al.
(author)
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Niche partitioning in arbuscular mycorrhizal communities in temperate grasslands : a lesson from adjacent serpentine and nonserpentine habitats
- 2015
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 24:8, s. 1831-1843
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) represent an important soil microbial group playing a fundamental role in many terrestrial ecosystems. We explored the effects of deterministic (soil characteristics, host plant life stage, neighbouring plant communities) and stochastic processes on AMF colonization, richness and community composition in roots of Knautia arvensis(Dipsacaceae) plants from three serpentine grasslands and adjacent nonserpentine sites. Methodically, the study was based on 454-sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA. In total, we detected 81 molecular taxonomical operational units (MOTUs) belonging to the Glomeromycota. Serpentine character of the site negatively influenced AMF root colonization, similarly as higher Fe concentration. AMF MOTUs richness linearly increased along a pH gradient from 3.5 to 5.8. Contrary, K and Cr soil concentration had a negative influence on AMF MOTUs richness. We also detected a strong relation between neighbouring plant community composition and AMF MOTUs richness. Although spatial distance between the sampled sites (c. 0.3–3 km) contributed to structuring AMF communities in K. arvensis roots, environmental parameters were key factors in this respect. In particular, the composition of AMF communities was shaped by the complex of serpentine conditions, pH and available soil Ni concentration. The composition of AMF communities was also dependent on host plant life stage (vegetative vs. generative). Our study supports the dominance of deterministic factors in structuring AMF communities in heterogeneous environment composed of an edaphic mosaic of serpentine and nonserpentine soils.
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24. |
- Kõljalg, Urmas, et al.
(author)
-
Digital identifiers for fungal species
- 2016
-
In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 352:6290, s. 1182-1183
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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25. |
- Kõljalg, Urmas, et al.
(author)
-
Towards a unified paradigm for sequence-based identification of fungi.
- 2013
-
In: Molecular ecology. - : Wiley. - 1365-294X .- 0962-1083. ; 22:21, s. 5271-7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the formal fungal barcode and in most cases the marker of choice for the exploration of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Two problems are particularly acute in the pursuit of satisfactory taxonomic assignment of newly generated ITS sequences: (i) the lack of an inclusive, reliable public reference data set and (ii) the lack of means to refer to fungal species, for which no Latin name is available in a standardized stable way. Here, we report on progress in these regards through further development of the UNITE database (http://unite.ut.ee) for molecular identification of fungi. All fungal species represented by at least two ITS sequences in the international nucleotide sequence databases are now given a unique, stable name of the accession number type (e.g. Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus|GU586904|SH133781.05FU), and their taxonomic and ecological annotations were corrected as far as possible through a distributed, third-party annotation effort. We introduce the term 'species hypothesis' (SH) for the taxa discovered in clustering on different similarity thresholds (97-99%). An automatically or manually designated sequence is chosen to represent each such SH. These reference sequences are released (http://unite.ut.ee/repository.php) for use by the scientific community in, for example, local sequence similarity searches and in the QIIME pipeline. The system and the data will be updated automatically as the number of public fungal ITS sequences grows. We invite everybody in the position to improve the annotation or metadata associated with their particular fungal lineages of expertise to do so through the new Web-based sequence management system in UNITE.
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26. |
- Lewin, Harris A., et al.
(author)
-
The Earth BioGenome Project 2020 : Starting the clock
- 2022
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 119:4
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)
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27. |
- Lindahl, Björn, et al.
(author)
-
Fungal community analysis by high-throughput sequencing of amplified markers – a user's guide
- 2013
-
In: New Phytologist. - : Wiley. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 199:1, s. 288-299
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- * Novel high-throughput sequencing methods outperform earlier approaches in terms of resolution and magnitude. They enable identification and relative quantification of community members and offer new insights into fungal community ecology. These methods are currently taking over as the primary tool to assess fungal communities of plant-associated endophytes, pathogens, and mycorrhizal symbionts, as well as free-living saprotrophs. * Taking advantage of the collective experience of six research groups, we here review the different stages involved in fungal community analysis, from field sampling via laboratory procedures to bioinformatics and data interpretation. We discuss potential pitfalls, alternatives, and solutions. * Highlighted topics are challenges involved in: obtaining representative DNA/RNA samples and replicates that encompass the targeted variation in community composition, selection of marker regions and primers, options for amplification and multiplexing, handling of sequencing errors, and taxonomic identification. * Without awareness of methodological biases, limitations of markers, and bioinformatics challenges, large-scale sequencing projects risk yielding artificial results and misleading conclusions.
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28. |
- Mundra, Sunil, et al.
(author)
-
Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi respond differently to long-term experimentally increased snow depth in the High Arctic
- 2016
-
In: MicrobiologyOpen. - : Wiley. - 2045-8827. ; 5:5, s. 856-869
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Changing climate is expected to alter precipitation patterns in the Arctic, with consequences for subsurface temperature and moisture conditions, community structure, and nutrient mobilization through microbial belowground processes. Here, we address the effect of increased snow depth on the variation in species richness and community structure of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and saprotrophic fungi. Soil samples were collected weekly from mid-July to mid-September in both control and deep snow plots. Richness of ECM fungi was higher, while saprotrophic fungi was lower in increased snow depth plots relative to controls. ECM fungal richness was related to soil NO3-N, NH4-N, and K; and saprotrophic fungi to NO3-N and pH. Small but significant changes in the composition of saprotrophic fungi could be attributed to snow treatment and sampling time, but not so for the ECM fungi. Delayed snow melt did not influence the temporal variation in fungal communities between the treatments. Results suggest that some fungal species are favored, while others are disfavored resulting in their local extinction due to long-term changes in snow amount. Shifts in species composition of fungal functional groups are likely to affect nutrient cycling, ecosystem respiration, and stored permafrost carbon.
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29. |
- Mundra, Sunil, et al.
(author)
-
Temporal variation of Bistorta vivipara-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in the High Arctic
- 2015
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 24:24, s. 6289-6302
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important for efficient nutrient uptake of several widespread arctic plant species. Knowledge of temporal variation of ECM fungi, and the relationship of these patterns to environmental variables, is essential to understand energy and nutrient cycling in Arctic ecosystems. We sampled roots of Bistorta vivipara ten times over two years; three times during the growing-season (June, July and September) and twice during winter (November and April) of both years. We found 668 ECM OTUs belonging to 25 different ECM lineages, whereof 157 OTUs persisted throughout all sampling time-points. Overall, ECM fungal richness peaked in winter and species belonging to Cortinarius, Serendipita and Sebacina were more frequent in winter than during summer. Structure of ECM fungal communities was primarily affected by spatial factors. However, after accounting for spatial effects, significant seasonal variation was evident revealing correspondence with seasonal changes in environmental conditions. We demonstrate that arctic ECM richness and community structure differ between summer (growing-season) and winter, possibly due to reduced activity of the core community, and addition of fungi adapted for winter conditions forming a winter-active fungal community. Significant month 3 year interactions were observed both for fungal richness and community composition, indicating unpredictable between-year variation. Our study indicates that addressing seasonal changes requires replication over several years.
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30. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
A comprehensive, automatically updated fungal ITS sequence dataset for reference-based chimera control in environmental sequencing efforts
- 2015
-
In: Microbes and Environments. - 1342-6311 .- 1347-4405. ; 30:2, s. 145-150
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the most commonly chosen genetic marker for the molecular identification of fungi in environmental sequencing and molecular ecology studies. Several analytical issues complicate such efforts, one of which is the formation of chimeric—artificially joined—DNA sequences during PCR amplification or sequence assembly. Several software tools are currently available for chimera detection, but rely to various degrees on the presence of a chimera-free reference dataset for optimal performance. However, no such dataset is available for use with the fungal ITS region. This study introduces a comprehensive, automatically updated reference dataset for fungal ITS sequences based on the UNITE database for the molecular identification of fungi. This dataset supports chimera detection throughout the fungal kingdom and for full-length ITS sequences as well as partial (ITS1 or ITS2 only) datasets. The performance of the dataset on a large set of artificial chimeras was above 99.5%, and we subsequently used the dataset to remove nearly 1,000 compromised fungal ITS sequences from public circulation. The dataset is available at http://unite.ut.ee/repository.php and is subject to web-based third-party curation.
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31. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
A comprehensive, automatically updated fungal ITS sequence dataset for reference-based chimera control in environmental sequencing efforts
- 2015
-
In: Microbes and Environments. - 1342-6311 .- 1347-4405. ; 30:2, s. 145-150
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the most commonly chosen genetic marker for the molecular identification of fungi in environmental sequencing and molecular ecology studies. Several analytical issues complicate such efforts, one of which is the formation of chimeric—artificially joined—DNA sequences during PCR amplification or sequence assembly. Several software tools are currently available for chimera detection, but rely to various degrees on the presence of a chimera-free reference dataset for optimal performance. However, no such dataset is available for use with the fungal ITS region. This study introduces a comprehensive, automatically updated reference dataset for fungal ITS sequences based on the UNITE database for the molecular identification of fungi. This dataset supports chimera detection throughout the fungal kingdom and for full-length ITS sequences as well as partial (ITS1 or ITS2 only) datasets. The performance of the dataset on a large set of artificial chimeras was above 99.5%, and we subsequently used the dataset to remove nearly 1,000 compromised fungal ITS sequences from public circulation. The dataset is available at http://unite.ut.ee/repository.php and is subject to web-based third-party curation.
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32. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
Five simple guidelines for establishing basic authenticity and reliability of newly generated fungal ITS sequences
- 2012
-
In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 4, s. 37-63
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Molecular data form an important research tool in most branches of mycology. A non-trivial proportion of the public fungal DNA sequences are, however, compromised in terms of quality and reliability, contributing noise and bias to sequence-borne inferences such as phylogenetic analysis, diversity assessment, and barcoding. In this paper we discuss various aspects and pitfalls of sequence quality assessment. Based on our observations, we provide a set of guidelines to assist in manual quality management of newly generated, near-full-length (Sanger-derived) fungal ITS sequences and to some extent also sequences of shorter read lengths, other genes or markers, and groups of organisms. The guidelines are intentionally non-technical and do not require substantial bioinformatics skills or significant computational power. Despite their simple nature, we feel they would have caught the vast majority of the severely compromised ITS sequences in the public corpus. Our guidelines are nevertheless not infallible, and common sense and intuition remain important elements in the pursuit of compromised sequence data. The guidelines focus on basic sequence authenticity and reliability of the newly generated sequences, and the user may want to consider additional resources and steps to accomplish the best possible quality control. A discussion on the technical resources for further sequence quality management is therefore provided in the supplementary material.
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33. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification
- 2023
-
In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; :96, s. 143-157
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungal metabarcoding of substrates such as soil, wood, and water is uncovering an unprecedented number of fungal species that do not seem to produce tangible morphological structures and that defy our best attempts at cultivation, thus falling outside the scope of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The present study uses the new, ninth release of the species hypotheses of the UNITE database to show that species discovery through environmental sequencing vastly outpaces traditional, Sanger sequencing-based efforts in a strongly increasing trend over the last five years. Our findings chal-lenge the present stance of some in the mycological community - that the current situation is satisfactory and that no change is needed to "the code" - and suggest that we should be discussing not whether to allow DNA-based descriptions (typifications) of species and by extension higher ranks of fungi, but what the precise requirements for such DNA-based typifications should be. We submit a tentative list of such criteria for further discussion. The present authors hope for a revitalized and deepened discussion on DNA-based typification, because to us it seems harmful and counter-productive to intentionally deny the overwhelming majority of extant fungi a formal standing under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
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34. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
Improving ITS sequence data for identification of plant pathogenic fungi
- 2014
-
In: Fungal Diversity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1560-2745 .- 1878-9129. ; 67:1, s. 11-19
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant pathogenic fungi are a large and diverse assemblage of eukaryotes with substantial impacts on natural ecosystems and human endeavours. These taxa often have complex and poorly understood life cycles, lack observable, discriminatory morphological characters, and may not be amenable to in vitro culturing. As a result, species identification is frequently difficult. Molecular (DNA sequence) data have emerged as crucial information for the taxonomic identification of plant pathogenic fungi, with the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region being the most popular marker. However, international nucleotide sequence databases are accumulating numerous sequences of compromised or low-resolution taxonomic annotations and substandard technical quality, making their use in the molecular identification of plant pathogenic fungi problematic. Here we report on a concerted effort to identify high-quality reference sequences for various plant pathogenic fungi and to re-annotate incorrectly or insufficiently annotated public ITS sequences from these fungal lineages. A third objective was to enrich the sequences with geographical and ecological metadata. The results – a total of 31,954 changes – are incorporated in and made available through the UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi (http://unite.ut.ee), including standalone FASTA files of sequence data for local BLAST searches, use in the next-generation sequencing analysis platforms QIIME and mothur, and related applications. The present initiative is just a beginning to cover the wide spectrum of plant pathogenic fungi, and we invite all researchers with pertinent expertise to join the annotation effort.
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35. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
Mycobiome diversity: high-throughput sequencing and identification of fungi.
- 2019
-
In: Nature reviews. Microbiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1740-1534 .- 1740-1526. ; 17, s. 95-109
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungi are major ecological players in both terrestrial and aquatic environments by cycling organic matter and channelling nutrients across trophic levels. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) studies of fungal communities are redrawing the map of the fungal kingdom by hinting at its enormous - and largely uncharted - taxonomic and functional diversity. However, HTS approaches come with a range of pitfalls and potential biases, cautioning against unwary application and interpretation of HTS technologies and results. In this Review, we provide an overview and practical recommendations for aspects of HTS studies ranging from sampling and laboratory practices to data processing and analysis. We also discuss upcoming trends and techniques in the field and summarize recent and noteworthy results from HTS studies targeting fungal communities and guilds. Our Review highlights the need for reproducibility and public data availability in the study of fungal communities. If the associated challenges and conceptual barriers are overcome, HTS offers immense possibilities in mycology and elsewhere.
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36. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
The UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi: handling dark taxa and parallel taxonomic classifications.
- 2019
-
In: Nucleic acids research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1362-4962 .- 0305-1048. ; 47:D1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- UNITE (https://unite.ut.ee/) is a web-based database and sequence management environment for the molecular identification of fungi. It targets the formal fungal barcode-the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer(ITS) region-and offers all ∼1 000000 public fungal ITS sequences for reference. These are clustered into ∼459000 species hypotheses and assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs) to promote unambiguous reference across studies. In-house and web-based third-party sequence curation and annotation have resulted in more than 275000 improvements to the data over the past 15 years. UNITE serves as a data provider for a range of metabarcoding software pipelines and regularly exchanges data with all major fungal sequence databases and other community resources. Recent improvements include redesigned handling of unclassifiable species hypotheses, integration with the taxonomic backbone of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and support for an unlimited number of parallel taxonomic classification systems.
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37. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
Top 50 most wanted fungi
- 2016
-
In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; 12, s. 29-40
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Environmental sequencing regularly recovers fungi that cannot be classified to any meaningful taxonomic level beyond “Fungi”. There are several examples where evidence of such lineages has been sitting in public sequence databases for up to ten years before receiving scientific attention and formal recognition. In order to highlight these unidentified lineages for taxonomic scrutiny, a search function is presented that produces updated lists of approximately genus-level clusters of fungal ITS sequences that remain unidentified at the phylum, class, and order levels, respectively. The search function (https://unite.ut.ee/top50.php) is implemented in the UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi, such that the underlying sequences and fungal lineages are open to third-party annotation. We invite researchers to examine these enigmatic fungal lineages in the hope that their taxonomic resolution will not have to wait another ten years or more.
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38. |
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39. |
- Niskanen, Tuula, et al.
(author)
-
Pushing the Frontiers of Biodiversity Research: Unveiling the Global Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation of Fungi
- 2023
-
In: ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES. - 1543-5938 .- 1545-2050. ; 48, s. 149-176
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungi comprise approximately 20% of all eukaryotic species and are connected to virtually all life forms on Earth. Yet, their diversity remains contentious, their distribution elusive, and their conservation neglected.We aim to flip this situation by synthesizing current knowledge.We present a revised estimate of 2-3 million fungal species with a "best estimate" at 2.5 million. To name the unknown >90% of these by the end of this century, we propose recognition of species known only from DNA data and call for large-scale sampling campaigns.We present an updated global map of fungal richness, highlighting tropical and temperate ecoregions of high diversity. We call for further Red List assessments and enhanced management guidelines to aid fungal conservation. Given that fungi play an inseparable role in our lives and in all ecosystems, and considering the fascinating questions remaining to be answered, we argue that fungi constitute the next frontier of biodiversity research.
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40. |
- Oja, Jane, et al.
(author)
-
Local-scale spatial structure and community composition of orchid mycorrhizal fungi in semi-natural grasslands
- 2017
-
In: Mycorrhiza. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0940-6360 .- 1432-1890. ; 27:4, s. 355-367
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Orchid mycorrhizal (OrM) fungi play a crucial role in the ontogeny of orchids, yet little is known about how the structure of OrM fungal communities varies with space and environmental factors. Previous studies suggest that within orchid patches, the distance to adult orchids may affect the abundance of OrM fungi. Many orchid species grow in species-rich temperate semi-natural grasslands, the persistence of which depends on moderate physical disturbances, such as grazing and mowing. The aim of this study was to test whether the diversity, structure and composition of OrM fungal community are influenced by the orchid patches and management intensity in semi-natural grasslands. We detected putative OrM fungi from 0 to 32 m away from the patches of host orchid species (Orchis militaris and Platanthera chlorantha) in 21 semi-natural calcareous grasslands using pyrosequencing. In addition, we assessed different ecological conditions in semi-natural grasslands but primarily focused on the effect of grazing intensity on OrM fungal communities in soil. We found that investigated orchid species were mostly associated with Ceratobasidiaceae and Tulasnellaceae and, to a lesser extent, with Sebacinales. Of all the examined factors, the intensity of grazing explained the largest proportion of variation in OrM fungal as well as total fungal community composition in soil. Spatial analyses showed limited evidence for spatial clustering of OrM fungi and their dependence on host orchids. Our results indicate that habitat management can shape OrM fungal communities, and the spatial distribution of these fungi appears to be weakly structured outside the orchid patches.
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41. |
- Ovaskainen, Otso, et al.
(author)
-
Global Spore Sampling Project: A global, standardized dataset of airborne fungal DNA
- 2024
-
In: Scientific Data. - 2052-4463. ; 11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Novel methods for sampling and characterizing biodiversity hold great promise for re-evaluating patterns of life across the planet. The sampling of airborne spores with a cyclone sampler, and the sequencing of their DNA, have been suggested as an efficient and well-calibrated tool for surveying fungal diversity across various environments. Here we present data originating from the Global Spore Sampling Project, comprising 2,768 samples collected during two years at 47 outdoor locations across the world. Each sample represents fungal DNA extracted from 24 m3 of air. We applied a conservative bioinformatics pipeline that filtered out sequences that did not show strong evidence of representing a fungal species. The pipeline yielded 27,954 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Each OTU is accompanied by a probabilistic taxonomic classification, validated through comparison with expert evaluations. To examine the potential of the data for ecological analyses, we partitioned the variation in species distributions into spatial and seasonal components, showing a strong effect of the annual mean temperature on community composition.
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42. |
- Partel, Meelis, et al.
(author)
-
Historical biome distribution and recent human disturbance shape the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
- 2017
-
In: New Phytologist. - : Wiley. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 216:1, s. 227-238
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The availability of global microbial diversity data, collected using standardized metabarcoding techniques, makes microorganisms promising models for investigating the role of regional and local factors in driving biodiversity. Here we modelled the global diversity of symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi using currently available data on AM fungal molecular diversity (small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences) in field samples. To differentiate between regional and local effects, we estimated species pools (sets of potentially suitable taxa) for each site, which are expected to reflect regional processes. We then calculated community completeness, an index showing the fraction of the species pool present, which is expected to reflect local processes. We found significant spatial variation, globally in species pool size, as well as in local and dark diversity (absent members of the species pool). Species pool size was larger close to areas containing tropical grasslands during the last glacial maximum, which are possible centres of diversification. Community completeness was greater in regions of high wilderness (remoteness from human disturbance). Local diversity was correlated with wilderness and current connectivity to mountain grasslands. Applying the species pool concept to symbiotic fungi facilitated a better understanding of how biodiversity can be jointly shaped by large-scale historical processes and recent human disturbance.
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43. |
- Pölme, Sergei, et al.
(author)
-
Host preference and network properties in biotrophic plant-fungal associations
- 2018
-
In: New Phytologist. - : WILEY. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 217:3, s. 1230-1239
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Analytical methods can offer insights into the structure of biological networks, but mechanisms that determine the structure of these networks remain unclear. We conducted a synthesis based on 111 previously published datasets to assess a range of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that may influence the plant-associated fungal interaction networks. We calculated the relative host effect on fungal community composition and compared nestedness and modularity among different mycorrhizal types and endophytic fungal guilds. We also assessed how plant-fungal network structure was related to host phylogeny, environmental and sampling properties. Orchid mycorrhizal fungal communities responded most strongly to host identity, but the effect of host was similar among all other fungal guilds. Community nestedness, which did not differ among fungal guilds, declined significantly with increasing mean annual precipitation on a global scale. Orchid and ericoid mycorrhizal fungal communities were more modular than ectomycorrhizal and root endophytic communities, with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in an intermediate position. Network properties among a broad suite of plant-associated fungi were largely comparable and generally unrelated to phylogenetic distance among hosts. Instead, network metrics were predominantly affected by sampling and matrix properties, indicating the importance of study design in properly inferring ecological patterns.
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44. |
- Riit, Taavi, et al.
(author)
-
Oomycete Soil Diversity Associated with Betula and Alnus in Forests and Urban Settings in the Nordic–Baltic Region
- 2023
-
In: Journal of Fungi. - : MDPI. - 2309-608X. ; 9:9
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aimed to determine the differences and drivers of oomycete diversity and community composition in alder- and birch-dominated park and natural forest soils of the Fennoscandian and Baltic countries of Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. For this, we sequenced libraries of PCR products generated from the DNA of 111 soil samples collected across a climate gradient using oomycete-specific primers on a PacBio high-throughput sequencing platform. We found that oomycete communities are most affected by temperature seasonality, annual mean temperature, and mean temperature of the warmest quarter. Differences in composition were partly explained by the higher diversity of Saprolegniales in Sweden and Norway, as both total oomycete and Saprolegniales richness decreased significantly at higher longitudes, potentially indicating the preference of this group of oomycetes for a more temperate maritime climate. None of the evaluated climatic variables significantly affected the richness of Pythiales or Peronosporales. Interestingly, the relative abundance and richness of Pythiales was higher at urban sites compared to forest sites, whereas the opposite was true for Saprolegniales. Additionally, this is the first report of Phytophthora gallica and P. plurivora in Estonia. Our results indicate that the composition of oomycetes in soils is strongly influenced by climatic factors, and, therefore, changes in climate conditions associated with global warming may have the potential to significantly alter the distribution range of these microbes, which comprise many important pathogens of plants.
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45. |
- Saitta, Alessandro, et al.
(author)
-
Tree species identity and diversity drive fungal richness and community composition along an elevational gradient in a Mediterranean ecosystem
- 2018
-
In: Mycorrhiza. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0940-6360 .- 1432-1890. ; 28:1, s. 39-47
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ecological and taxonomic knowledge is important for conservation and utilization of biodiversity. Biodiversity and ecology of fungi in Mediterranean ecosystems is poorly understood. Here, we examined the diversity and spatial distribution of fungi along an elevational gradient in a Mediterranean ecosystem, using DNA metabarcoding. This study provides novel information about diversity of all ecological and taxonomic groups of fungi along an elevational gradient in a Mediterranean ecosystem. Our analyses revealed that among all biotic and abiotic variables tested, host species identity is the main driver of the fungal richness and fungal community composition. Fungal richness was strongly associated with tree richness and peaked in Quercus-dominated habitats and Cistus-dominated habitats. The highest taxonomic richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi was observed under Quercus ilex, whereas the highest taxonomic richness of saprotrophs was found under Pinus. Our results suggest that the effect of plant diversity on fungal richness and community composition may override that of abiotic variables across environmental gradients.
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46. |
- Schoch, Conrad L., et al.
(author)
-
Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi
- 2014
-
In: Database: The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1758-0463. ; 2014:bau061, s. 1-21
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.
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47. |
- Tedersoo, Leho, et al.
(author)
-
EUKARYOME: the rRNA gene reference database for identification of all eukaryotes
- 2024
-
In: Database. - 1758-0463. ; 2024
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Molecular identification of micro- and macroorganisms based on nuclear markers has revolutionized our understanding of their taxonomy, phylogeny and ecology. Today, research on the diversity of eukaryotes in global ecosystems heavily relies on nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) markers. Here, we present the research community-curated reference database EUKARYOME for nuclear ribosomal 18S rRNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S rRNA markers for all eukaryotes, including metazoans (animals), protists, fungi and plants. It is particularly useful for the identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as it bridges the four commonly used molecular markers - ITS1, ITS2, 18S V4-V5 and 28S D1-D2 subregions. The key benefits of this database over other annotated reference sequence databases are that it is not restricted to certain taxonomic groups and it includes all rRNA markers. EUKARYOME also offers a number of reference long-read sequences that are derived from (meta)genomic and (meta)barcoding - a unique feature that can be used for taxonomic identification and chimera control of third-generation, long-read, high-throughput sequencing data. Taxonomic assignments of rRNA genes in the database are verified based on phylogenetic approaches. The reference datasets are available in multiple formats from the project homepage, http://www.eukaryome.org.
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48. |
- Tedersoo, Leho, et al.
(author)
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Genomics and metagenomics technologies to recover ribosomal DNA and single-copy genes from old fruit-body and ectomycorrhiza specimens
- 2016
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In: MycoKeys. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 1314-4057 .- 1314-4049. ; :13, s. 1-20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has become a standard technique for genomics, metagenomics and taxonomy, but these analyses typically require large amounts of high-quality DNA that is difficult to obtain from uncultivable organisms including fungi with no living culture or fruit-body representatives. By using 1 ng DNA and low coverage Illumina HiSeqHTS, we evaluated the usefulness of genomics and metagenomics tools to recover fungal barcoding genes from old and problematic specimens of fruit-bodies and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) root tips. Ribosomal DNA and single-copy genes were successfully recovered from both fruit-body and EcM specimens typically <10 years old (maximum, 17 years). Samples with maximum obtained DNA concentration <0.2 ng µl-1 were sequenced poorly. Fungal rDNA molecules assembled from complex mock community and soil revealed a large proportion of chimeras and artefactual consensus sequences of closely related taxa. Genomics and metagenomics tools enable recovery of fungal genomes from very low initial amounts of DNA from fruit-bodies and ectomycorrhizas, but these genomes include a large proportion of prokaryote and other eukaryote DNA. Nonetheless, the recovered scaffolds provide an important source for phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses and mining of functional genes.
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49. |
- Tedersoo, Leho, et al.
(author)
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Global biogeography of the ectomycorrhizal/sebacina lineage (Fungi, Sebacinales) as revealed from comparative phylogenetic analyses
- 2014
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 23:16, s. 4168-4183
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compared with plants and animals, large-scale biogeographic patterns of microbes including fungi are poorly understood. By the use of a comparative phylogenetic approach and ancestral state reconstructions, we addressed the global biogeography, rate of evolution and evolutionary origin of the widely distributed ectomycorrhizal (EcM) /sebacina lineage that forms a large proportion of the Sebacinales order. We downloaded all publicly available internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and metadata and supplemented sequence information from three genes to construct dated phylogenies and test biogeographic hypotheses. The /sebacina lineage evolved 45-57Myr ago that groups it with relatively young EcM taxa in other studies. The most parsimonious origin for /sebacina is inferred to be North American temperate coniferous forests. Among biogeographic traits, region and biome exhibited stronger phylogenetic signal than host family. Consistent with the resource availability (environmental energy) hypothesis, the ITS region is evolving at a faster rate in tropical than nontropical regions. Most biogeographic regions exhibited substantial phylogenetic clustering suggesting a strong impact of dispersal limitation over a large geographic scale. In northern Holarctic regions, however, phylogenetic distances and phylogenetic grouping of isolates indicate multiple recent dispersal events.
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50. |
- Tedersoo, Leho, et al.
(author)
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Global diversity and geography of soil fungi
- 2014
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 346:6213, s. artikel nr 1256688-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples, we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity. The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles. Climatic factors, followed by edaphic and spatial variables, constitute the best predictors of fungal richness and community composition at the global scale. Fungi show similar latitudinal diversity gradients to other organisms, with several notable exceptions. These findings advance our understanding of global fungal diversity patterns and permit integration of fungi into a general macroecological framework.
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