Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2019
Predicting the unpredictable: How host specific is the mycobiota of bark and ambrosia beetles?
Miller, Kirsten E.; Inward, Daegan J. G.; Gomez-Rodriguez, Carola; Baselga, Andres; Vogler, Alfried P.Abstract
Bark and ambrosia beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are known for their symbioses with fungi and play a key role in the dispersal of phytopathogens. The scolytine community of eight pine stands along a latitudinal gradient in the UK was surveyed and beetle-associated fungal communities (mycobiota) were assessed using ITS2 metabarcoding (304 specimens, 12 species). Distribution patterns among 2,257 detected fungal Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) revealed that beetle species identity was an important predictor of mycobiotic richness and composition, while the effects of environmental and spatial variables were negligible. Network-based specificity analysis suggested that a relatively small subset of OTUs (75 in total) exhibit an affinity for a subset of beetle species and that these include many Microascales and Saccharomycetes. Notably though, of the OTUs belonging to the family Ophiostoma-taceae, relatively few display host specificity. Our results add to the complex picture of host-associated fungal communities and suggest that host range limits are unlikely to restrict the spread of economically important phytopathogens. Crown Copyright (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords
Mycobiota; Metabarcoding; Bark-beetles; Host-microbe interactionsPublished in
Fungal Ecology2019, volume: 42, article number: 100854
Authors' information
Natural History Museum
Imperial College London
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Inward, Daegan JG.
Forest Research
Gomez-Rodriguez, Carola
University of Santiago De Compostela
Baselga, Andres
University of Santiago De Compostela
Vogler, Alfried P.
Natural History Museum
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2019.07.008
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/102205