Highly competitive fungi manipulate bacterial communities in decomposing beech wood (Fagus sylvativa)

Johnston, Sarah, Hiscox, Jennifer, Savoury, Melanie, Boddy, Lynne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1845-6738 and Weightman, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6671-2209 2019. Highly competitive fungi manipulate bacterial communities in decomposing beech wood (Fagus sylvativa). FEMS Microbiology Ecology 95 (2) 10.1093/femsec/fiy225

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Abstract

The bacterial communities in decomposing wood are receiving increased attention, but their interactions with wood-decay fungi are poorly understood. This is the first field study to test the hypothesis that fungi are responsible for driving bacterial communities in beech wood (Fagus sylvatica). A meta-genetic approach was used to characterise bacterial and fungal communities in wood that had been laboratory-colonised with known wood-decay fungi, and left for a year at six woodland sites. Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the proportionally dominant bacterial taxa, as in previous studies. Pre-colonising wood with decay fungi had a clear effect on the bacterial community, apparently via direct fungal influence; the bacterial and fungal communities present at the time of collection explained nearly 60% of their mutual covariance. Site was less important than fungal influence in determining bacterial communities, but the effects of pre-colonisation were more pronounced at some sites than at others. Wood pH was also a strong bacterial predictor, but was itself under considerable fungal influence. Burkholderiaceae and Acidobacteriaceae showed directional responses against the trend of the bacterial community as a whole.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0168-6496
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 November 2018
Date of Acceptance:	8 November 2018
Last Modified:	09 May 2023 20:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/117057

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