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Per Persson. Photo.

Per Persson

Dean

Per Persson. Photo.

Uncovering the hidden diversity of litter-decomposition mechanisms in mushroom-forming fungi

Author

  • Dimitrios Floudas
  • Johan Bentzer
  • Dag Ahrén
  • Tomas Johansson
  • Per Persson
  • Anders Tunlid

Summary, in English

Litter decomposing Agaricales play key role in terrestrial carbon cycling, but little is known about their decomposition mechanisms. We assembled datasets of 42 gene families involved in plant-cell-wall decomposition from seven newly sequenced litter decomposers and 35 other Agaricomycotina members, mostly white-rot and brown-rot species. Using sequence similarity and phylogenetics, we split the families into phylogroups and compared their gene composition across nutritional strategies. Subsequently, we used Raman spectroscopy to examine the ability of litter decomposers, white-rot fungi, and brown-rot fungi to decompose crystalline cellulose. Both litter decomposers and white-rot fungi share the enzymatic cellulose decomposition, whereas brown-rot fungi possess a distinct mechanism that disrupts cellulose crystallinity. However, litter decomposers and white-rot fungi differ with respect to hemicellulose and lignin degradation phylogroups, suggesting adaptation of the former group to the litter environment. Litter decomposers show high phylogroup diversity, which is indicative of high functional versatility within the group, whereas a set of white-rot species shows adaptation to bulk-wood decomposition. In both groups, we detected species that have unique characteristics associated with hitherto unknown adaptations to diverse wood and litter substrates. Our results suggest that the terms white-rot fungi and litter decomposers mask a much larger functional diversity.

Department/s

  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)

Publishing year

2020-08

Language

English

Pages

2046-2059

Publication/Series

ISME Journal

Volume

14

Issue

8

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Topic

  • Botany
  • Microbiology

Status

Published

Research group

  • Microbial Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1751-7362