Fungal Diversity Is Not Determined by Mineral and Chemical Differences in Serpentine Substrates |
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Authors: | Stefania Daghino Claude Murat Elisa Sizzano Mariangela Girlanda Silvia Perotto |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.; 2. Interdepartmental Centre “G. Scansetti” for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.; 3. Unité Mixte de Recherche de l''Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Lorraine Université ‘Interactions Arbres/Microorganismes’, Centre de Nancy - Champenoux, France.; Dowling College, United States of America, |
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Abstract: | The physico-chemical properties of serpentine soils lead to strong selection of plant species. Whereas many studies have described the serpentine flora, little information is available on the fungal communities dwelling in these sites. Asbestos minerals, often associated with serpentine rocks, can be weathered by serpentine-isolated fungi, suggesting an adaptation to this substrate. In this study, we have investigated whether serpentine substrates characterized by the presence of rocks with distinct mineral composition could select for different fungal communities. Both fungal isolation and 454 pyrosequencing of amplicons obtained from serpentine samples following direct DNA extraction revealed some fungal taxa shared by the four ophiolitic substrates, but also highlighted several substrate-specific taxa. Bootstrap analysis of 454 OTU abundances indicated weak clustering of fungal assemblages from the different substrates, which did not match substrate classification based on exchangeable macronutrients and metals. Intra-substrate variability, as assessed by DGGE profiles, was similar across the four serpentine substrates, and comparable to inter-substrate variability. These findings indicate the absence of a correlation between the substrate (mineral composition and available cations) and the diversity of the fungal community. Comparison of culture-based and culture-independent methods supports the higher taxonomic precision of the former, as complementation of the better performance of the latter. |
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