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Edith Hammer. Photo.

Edith Hammer

Senior lecturer

Edith Hammer. Photo.

Fungal foraging behaviour and hyphal space exploration in micro-structured Soil Chips

Author

  • Kristin Aleklett
  • Pelle Ohlsson
  • Martin Bengtsson
  • Edith C Hammer

Summary, in English

How do fungi navigate through the complex microscopic maze-like structures found in the soil? Fungal behaviour, especially at the hyphal scale, is largely unknown and challenging to study in natural habitats such as the opaque soil matrix. We monitored hyphal growth behaviour and strategies of seven Basidiomycete litter decomposing species in a micro-fabricated "Soil Chip" system that simulates principal aspects of the soil pore space and its micro-spatial heterogeneity. The hyphae were faced with micrometre constrictions, sharp turns and protruding obstacles, and the species examined were found to have profoundly different responses in terms of foraging range and persistence, spatial exploration and ability to pass obstacles. Hyphal behaviour was not predictable solely based on ecological assumptions, and our results obtained a level of trait information at the hyphal scale that cannot be fully explained using classical concepts of space exploration and exploitation such as the phalanx/guerrilla strategies. Instead, we propose a multivariate trait analysis, acknowledging the complex trade-offs and microscale strategies that fungal mycelia exhibit. Our results provide novel insights about hyphal behaviour, as well as an additional understanding of fungal habitat colonisation, their foraging strategies and niche partitioning in the soil environment.

Department/s

  • Department of Biology
  • MEMEG
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2021-01-19

Language

English

Publication/Series

The Isme Journal

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Status

Published

Research group

  • Microbial Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1751-7362