ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9526-0945
Current Organisations
University of Western Australia
,
CSIRO Land and Water
,
CSIRO
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-03-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S11104-023-05962-3
Abstract: Degraded ecosystems can be maintained by abiotic and biotic legacies long after initial disturbances, preventing recovery. These legacies can include changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). To inform potential restoration pathways, we aimed to elucidate differences in AMF between intact and degraded ecosystems, their responses to modified soils, and interactions with invasive plants. We used a state-and-transition framework to characterise AMF communities, native and exotic plant cover, and soil physicochemical properties across little-modified reference states and degraded states, which were carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) -depleted, intermediate, and CN-enriched, in temperate eucalypt woodlands of south-eastern Australia. Most ground-layer states differed significantly in their AMF communities, with the CN-enriched states being most distinct. All states had unique taxa and characteristic indicator taxa, but intermediate and CN-enriched states harboured four-to-five times more indicator taxa than the reference state. Consistent with this, richness of AMF was higher in the intermediate and CN-enriched states than in reference states, driven by higher richness of Archaeosporaceae, Diversisporaceae, Glomeraceae, and Paraglomeraceae. Pathway analysis indicated that differences in AMF communities among states were strongly related to differences in native:exotic plant cover ratio, mediated by soil organic matter and nutrients. Our results indicate that ecosystem degradation is associated with both loss of AMF taxa and introduction of ‘weedy’ AMF, which in turn potentially contribute to maintenance of degraded ecosystems. We argue that our state-and-transition approach to characterising AMF communities improved our understanding of the different pathways of degradation, elucidating possible constraints to ecosystem recovery.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-05-2022
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-02-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-09-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-11-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-11-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-05-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00572-023-01111-X
Abstract: Current literature suggests ecological niche differentiation between co-occurring Mucoromycotinian arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (M-AMF) and Glomeromycotinian AMF (G-AMF), but experimental evidence is limited. We investigated the influence of soil age, water availability (wet and dry), and plant species (native Microlaena stipoides and exotic Trifolium subterraneum ) on anatomical root colonisation and DNA profiles of M-AMF and G-AMF under glasshouse conditions. We grew seedlings of each species in soils collected from the four stages of a soil chronosequence, where pH decreases from the youngest to oldest stages, and phosphorus (P) is low in the youngest and oldest, but high in the intermediate stages. We scored the percentage of root length colonised and used DNA metabarcoding to profile fungal richness and community composition associated with treatment combinations. Soil age, water availability, and plant species were important influencers of root colonisation, although no M-AMF were visible following staining of M. stipoides roots. Soil age and host plant influenced fungal richness and community composition. However, response to soil age, potential host species, and water availability differed between M-AMF and G-AMF. Root colonisation of T. subterraneum by M-AMF and G-AMF was inversely correlated with soil P level. Community composition of M-AMF and G-AMF was structured by soil age and, to a lesser extent, plant species. Richness of M-AMF and G-AMF was negatively, and positively, correlated with available P, respectively. These findings are experimental evidence of ecological niche differentiation of M-AMF and G-AMF and invite further exploration into interactive effects of abiotic and biotic factors on their communities along successional trajectories.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 03-09-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-11-2020
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 19-03-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.03.17.484796
Abstract: Fungi play pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning, but little is known about their global patterns of ersity, endemicity, vulnerability to global change drivers and conservation priority areas. We applied the high-resolution PacBio sequencing technique to identify fungi based on a long DNA marker that revealed a high proportion of hitherto unknown fungal taxa. We used a Global Soil Mycobiome consortium dataset to test relative performance of various sequencing depth standardization methods (calculation of residuals, exclusion of singletons, traditional and SRS rarefaction, use of Shannon index of ersity) to find optimal protocols for statistical analyses. Altogether, we used six global surveys to infer these patterns for soil-inhabiting fungi and their functional groups. We found that residuals of log-transformed richness (including singletons) against log-transformed sequencing depth yields significantly better model estimates compared with most other standardization methods. With respect to global patterns, fungal functional groups differed in the patterns of ersity, endemicity and vulnerability to main global change predictors. Unlike α- ersity, endemicity and global-change vulnerability of fungi and most functional groups were greatest in the tropics. Fungi are vulnerable mostly to drought, heat, and land cover change. Fungal conservation areas of highest priority include wetlands and moist tropical ecosystems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-08-2016
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.13778
Abstract: Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities covary with host plant communities along soil fertility gradients, yet it is unclear whether this reflects changes in host composition, fungal edaphic specialization or priority effects during fungal community establishment. We grew two co-occurring ECM plant species (to control for host identity) in soils collected along a 2-million-year chronosequence representing a strong soil fertility gradient and used soil manipulations to disentangle the effects of edaphic properties from those due to fungal inoculum. Ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition changed and richness declined with increasing soil age these changes were linked to pedogenesis-driven shifts in edaphic properties, particularly pH and resin-exchangeable and organic phosphorus. However, when differences in inoculum potential or soil abiotic properties among soil ages were removed while host identity was held constant, differences in ECM fungal communities and richness among chronosequence stages disappeared. Our results show that ECM fungal communities strongly vary during long-term ecosystem development, even within the same hosts. However, these changes could not be attributed to short-term fungal edaphic specialization or differences in fungal inoculum (i.e. density and composition) alone. Rather, they must reflect longer-term ecosystem-level feedback between soil, vegetation and ECM fungi during pedogenesis.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-10-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S00248-019-01446-Z
Abstract: Abiotic and biotic drivers of co-occurring fungal functional guilds across regional-scale environmental gradients remain poorly understood. We characterized fungal communities using Illumina sequencing from soil cores collected across three Neotropical rainforests in Panama that vary in soil properties and plant community composition. We classified each fungal OTU into different functional guilds, namely plant pathogens, saprotrophs, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM), or ectomycorrhizal (ECM). We measured soil properties and nutrients within each core and determined the tree community composition and richness around each s ling core. Canonical correspondence analyses showed that soil pH and moisture were shared potential drivers of fungal communities for all guilds. However, partial the Mantel tests showed different strength of responses of fungal guilds to composition of trees and soils. Plant pathogens and saprotrophs were more strongly correlated with soil properties than with tree composition ECM fungi showed a stronger correlation with tree composition than with soil properties and AM fungi were correlated with soil properties, but not with trees. In conclusion, we show that co-occurring fungal guilds respond differently to abiotic and biotic environmental factors, depending on their ecological function. This highlights the joint role that abiotic and biotic factors play in determining composition of fungal communities, including those associated with plant hosts.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-03-2015
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12239
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-11-2021
DOI: 10.1111/NPH.17780
Abstract: Globally, agricultural land‐use negatively affects soil biota that contribute to ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, yet arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are promoted as essential components of agroecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi include Glomeromycotinian AMF (G‐AMF) and the arbuscule‐producing fine root endophytes, recently re‐classified into the Endogonales order within Mucoromycotina. The correct classification of Mucoromycotinian AMF (M‐AMF) and the availability of new molecular tools can guide research to better the understanding of their ersity and ecology. To investigate the impact on G‐AMF and M‐AMF of agricultural land‐use at a continental scale, we s led DNA from paired farm and native sites across 10 Australian biomes. Glomeromycotinian AMF were present in both native and farm sites in all biomes. Putative M‐AMF were favoured by farm sites, rare or absent in native sites, and almost entirely absent in tropical biomes. Temperature, rainfall, and soil pH were strong drivers of richness and community composition of both groups, and plant richness was an important mediator. Both fungal groups occupy different, but overlapping, ecological niches, with M‐AMF thriving in temperate agricultural landscapes. Our findings invite exploration of the origin and spread of M‐AMF and continued efforts to resolve the phylogeny of this newly reclassified group of AMF.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-09-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.22.460084
Abstract: Oomycetes are a group of eukaryotes related to brown algae and diatoms, many of which cause diseases in plants and animals. Improved methods are needed for rapid and accurate characterization of oomycete communities using DNA metabarcoding. We have identified the mitochondrial 40S ribosomal protein S10 gene ( rps10 ) as a locus useful for oomycete metabarcoding and provide primers predicted to lify all oomycetes based on available reference sequences from a wide range of taxa. We evaluated its utility relative to a popular barcode, the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), by sequencing environmental s les and a mock community using Illumina MiSeq. Amplified sequence variants (ASVs) and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified per community. Both the sequence and predicted taxonomy of ASVs and OTUs were compared to the known composition of the mock community. Both rps10 and ITS yielded ASVs with sequences matching 21 of the 24 species in the mock community and matching all 24 when allowing for a 1 bp difference. Taxonomic classifications of ASVs included 23 members of the mock community for rps10 and 17 for ITS1. Sequencing results for the environmental s les suggest the proposed rps10 locus results in substantially less lification of non-target organisms than the ITS1 method. The lified rps10 region also has higher taxonomic resolution than ITS1, allowing for greater discrimination of closely related species. We present a new website with a searchable rps10 reference database for species identification and all protocols needed for oomycete metabarcoding. The rps10 barcode and methods described herein provide an effective tool for metabarcoding oomycetes using short-read sequencing. Oomycetes are a group of eukaryotes related to brown algae and diatoms, many of which cause diseases in plants and animals. Improved methods are needed to rapidly characterize the ersity of oomycete species found in environmental s les. We have identified the mitochondrial 40S ribosomal protein S10 gene ( rps10 ) as being useful for oomycete community sequencing. We evaluated its utility relative to a popular barcode, the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), by sequencing environmental s les and a community we synthesized in the laboratory. The lified rps10 region is predicted to have a higher taxonomic resolution than ITS1, allowing for greater discrimination of closely related species. We present a new website with a searchable rps10 reference database for species identification and all protocols needed for oomycete community sequencing. The rps10 barcode and methods described herein provide an effective tool for characterizing oomycetes using environmental DNA sequencing.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-03-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-03-2016
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.2000
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-09-2021
Abstract: Highly erse plant communities growing on nutrient‐impoverished soils are test beds for theories on species coexistence. Here, neighbouring mycorrhizal and non‐mycorrhizal plants compete for limited phosphorus. The impact of below‐ground interactions on community dynamics is underexplored. We used an experimental approach to investigate effects of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and a phosphorus supply gradient on competitive and facilitative interactions among mixed assemblages of woody plants in microcosms. The plant species, one cluster root‐forming (CR) species and four AM species, are native to jarrah forest that grows on nutrient‐impoverished soils in south‐western Australia. We measured plant growth in microcosms, with and without inoculation with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis , and across a gradient of P supply: 0, 9, 27 and 243 mg P per kg of soil. Our data show evidence of plant–plant facilitation at low P supply and competition at high P supply. Growth of the CR species, Hakea undulata , was highest in microcosms with 0P and without AM inoculation. One AM species, Bossiaea aquifolium , also performed better at lower P levels, possibly benefitting from P mobilised by H. undulata . The other three AM species, one strongly obligates, performed better at higher P levels. Data for Acacia celastrifolia suggested it was facultatively mycotropic, and because there was no correlation between AM colonisation and the relative inoculum effect, we suggest positive effects of AM inoculation at 9P might be due to benefits other than P acquisition, such as pathogen defence. Benefit of AM inoculation diminished for three of four mycorrhizal species at the highest P level as we had predicted. The fourth species, Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), had higher growth in microcosms that were not inoculated with AM, perhaps because the species benefits more from ectomycorrhizas. Synthesis . Our experimental data suggest spatial heterogeneity of soil P, coupled with a ersity of nutrient‐acquisition strategies, and plasticity among plant–plant and plant–AM fungi interactions, contributes to plant species coexistence in the nutrient‐impoverished jarrah forest. Our research highlights the importance of below‐ground mechanisms for understanding factors determining community structure including a potential role of AM fungi in plant pathogen defence.
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Felipe Albornoz.