Mycelium

About: Mycelium is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8923 publications have been published within this topic receiving 170993 citations.

The production of ectomycorrhizal mycelium in forests: Relation between forest nutrient status and local mineral sources

Abstract: Due to acid rain and nitrogen deposition, there is growing concern that other mineral nutrients, primarily potassium and phosphorus, might limit forest production in boreal forests. Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi are important for the acquisition of potassium and phosphorus by trees. In a field investigation, the effects of poor potassium and phosphorus status of forest trees on the production of EcM mycelium were examined. The production of EcM mycelium was estimated in mesh bags containing sand, which were buried in the soil of forests of different potassium and phosphorus status. Mesh bags with 2% biotite or 1% apatite in sand were also buried to estimate the effect of local sources of nutrients on the production of EcM mycelium. No clear relation could be found between the production of EcM mycelium and nutrient status of the trees. Apatite stimulated the mycelial production, while biotite had no significant effect. EcM root production at the mesh bag surfaces was stimulated by apatite amendment in a forest with poor phosphorus status. The contribution of EcM fungi to apatite weathering was estimated by using rare earth elements ( REE) as marker elements. The concentration of REE was 10 times higher in EcM roots, which had grown in contact with the outer surface of apatite-amended mesh bags than in EcM roots grown in contact with the biotite amended or sand-filled mesh bags. In a laboratory study, it was confirmed that REE accumulated in the roots with very low amounts (<1 %) translocated to the shoots. The short-term effect of EcM mycelium on the elemental composition of biotite and apatite was investigated and compared with biotite- and apatite-amended mesh bags buried in trenched soil plots, which were free from EcM fungi. The mesh bags subjected to EcM fungi showed no difference in chemical composition after 17 months in the field. This study suggests that trees respond to phosphorus limitation by increased exploitation of phosphorus-containing minerals by ectomycorrhiza. However, the potential to ameliorate potassium limitation in a similar way appears to be low. (Less)

Pleiotropic effects of cAMP on germination, antibiotic biosynthesis and morphological development in Streptomyces coelicolor

Abstract: In wild-type Streptomyces coelicolor MT1110 cultures, cyclic adenosine 3',5' monophosphate (cAMP) was synthesized throughout the developmental programme with peaks of accumulation both during germination and later when aerial mycelium and actinorhodin were being produced. Construction and characterization of an adenylate cyclase disruption mutant (BZ1) demonstrated that cAMP facilitated these developmental processes. Although pulse-labelling experiments showed that a similar germination process was initiated in BZ1 and MT1110, germ-tube emergence was severely delayed in BZ1 and never occurred in more than 85% of the spores. Studies of growth and development on solid glucose minimal medium (SMMS, buffered or unbuffered) showed that MT1110 and BZ1 produced acid during the first rapid growth phase, which generated substrate mycelium. Thereafter, on unbuffered SMMS, only MT1110 resumed growth and produced aerial mycelium by switching to an alternative metabolism that neutralized its medium, probably by reincorporating and metabolizing extracellular acids. BZ1 was not able to neutralize its medium or produce aerial mycelium on unbuffered SMMS; these defects were suppressed by high concentrations (>1 mM) of cAMP during early growth or on buffered medium. Other developmental mutants (bldA, bldB, bldC, bldD, bldG) also irreversibly acidified this medium. However, these bald mutants were not suppressed by exogenous cAMP or neutralizing buffer. BZ1 also differentiated when it was cultured in close proximity to MT1110, a property observed in cross-feeding experiments between bald mutants and commonly thought to reflect diffusion of a discrete positively acting signalling molecule. In this case, MT1110 generated a more neutral pH environment that allowed BZ1 to reinitiate growth and form aerial mycelium. The fact that actinorhodin synthesis could be induced by concentrations of cAMP (< 20 microM) found in the medium of MT1110 cultures, suggested that it may serve as a diffusible signalling molecule to co-ordinate antibiotic biosynthesis.

Mucoid mutants of the biocontrol strain pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 show increased ability in biofilm formation on mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal carrot roots.

Abstract: Extracellular polysaccharides play an important role in the formation of bacterial biofilms. We tested the biofilmforming ability of two mutant strains with increased production of acidic extracellular polysaccharides compared with the wild-type biocontrol strain Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0. The anchoring of bacteria to axenic nonmycorrhizal and mycorrhizal roots as well as on extraradical mycelium of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices was investigated. The nonmucoid wild-type strain P. fluorescens CHA0 adhered very little on all surfaces, whereas both mucoid strains formed a dense and patchy bacterial layer on the roots and fungal structures. Increased adhesive properties of plant-growth-promoting bacteria may lead to more stable interactions in mixed inocula and the rhizosphere.

Interaction between an isolate from the Hymenoscyphus ericae aggregate and roots of Pinus and Vaccinium

Abstract: Summary • A fungal isolate was obtained from Piceirhiza bicolorata-like ectomycorrhizas on Pinus sylvestris in a 160-yr-old natural woodland. • The fungus was identified by sequencing the PCR-amplified rDNA ITS regions. The sequence was compared with similar known taxa and grouped with Cadophora finlandia in the Hymenoscyphus ericae aggregate. • The fungus formed P. bicolorata-like ectomycorrhizas in aseptic synthesis with P. sylvestris seedlings. When seedlings of Vaccinium myrtillus were exposed to mycelium arising from these ectomycorrhizas, or to mycelium in pure culture, the hyphae entered the cells of the hair roots and formed coils characteristic of ericoid mycorrhizas. The presence of the fungus stimulated Vaccinium root growth and altered root architecture. • This is the first full report of the ability of a fungus from the H. ericae aggregate simultaneously to form both ectomycorrhizas and what appear to be ericoid mycorrhizas.