Spruce trees host different needle fungi depending on disease resistance
Ren W, Wen Z, Wang K, Azeez AA, Asiegbu FO
Plant Signaling
If you've got a spruce in your yard, the invisible fungal community living on its needles shifts with the seasons and may even hint at how well that specific tree can fend off deadly root rot.
Researchers looked at the fungi living on the needles of Norway spruce trees, some of which are naturally better at resisting a destructive root disease called Heterobasidion rot. They found that resistant and susceptible trees host noticeably different fungal communities, but surprisingly, the time of year and accumulated warmth over the season shaped those communities even more than the tree's genetics did. Oddly, the fungi on the needles barely overlapped with the fungi found on the tree's seeds, suggesting these two fungal worlds build up almost independently.
Key Findings
Alpha diversity (richness, diversity, evenness) of needle fungal communities differed significantly (p < 0.05) between disease-resistant and susceptible spruce genotypes, despite overlapping distributions.
Temperature-related variables (average and accumulated seasonal temperature) explained more variation in fungal community composition than host resistance phenotype did.
Less than 1% of phyllosphere (needle) fungal taxa overlapped with seed-associated fungal communities from the same trees, and fungal co-occurrence network patterns differed seasonally between resistant and susceptible seedlings.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that the fungi living on spruce needles differ based on whether the tree is genetically resistant to a root-rot disease, but the season and temperature actually matter more than genetics in shaping which fungi show up.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Host genotype, resistance status and seasonal temperature shape the Norway spruce phyllosphere mycobiome.
The influence of the phyllosphere microbiome on plant health and disease development is well established. However, the roles of host resistance phenotype, seasonal variations, and accumulated tempe...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Nanoplastics interfere with plant-mycorrhizal communication and limit plant growth.
Microplastics breaking down in your garden soil are quietly strangling the beneficial fungi that help your vegetables absorb phosphorus and other nutrients, ...
Picea abies, the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.