Communities of Mucorales (phylum Mucoromycota) in different ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest

Diogo Xavier Lima,Catarina Letícia Ferreira De Lima,Jonathan Ramos Ribeiro,Cristina Maria Souza-Motta,Carlos Alberto Fragoso De Souza,André Luiz Cabral Monteiro De Azevedo Santiago Santiago

doi:10.1590/0102-33062020abb0118

Diogo Xavier Lima, Catarina Letícia Ferreira De Lima + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-33062020abb0118

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Abstract

ABSTRACT As primary decomposers of organic matter, mucoralean fungi have an important ecological role in edaphic systems in the Atlantic Forest. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding how communities of Mucorales are structured in soils of Atlantic Forest areas, and whether these communities are influenced by edaphic attributes in this domain. Thus, the current study aimed to understand the influence of edaphic attributes linked to species richness, abundance and composition of Mucorales in dense ombrophilous forest, ‘tabuleiro’ forest, sandbank and mangrove ecosystems located in Pernambuco, Brazil. Altogether, twenty-three taxa, including seven new records, were reported from soil samples from the ecosystems. Species composition was similar among the ecosystems, except for mangrove, while species richness and diversity of Mucorales were highest in dense ombrophilous forest and ‘tabuleiro’. Together the soil variables were responsible for 35.5 % of the variation in species composition, with pH being responsible for 53.32 % and 47.24 % of the variation in richness and abundance of these communities, respectively. These data indicate that pH is the most important attribute in delimiting the structure of mucoralean communities in the study areas, with influence on the composition, richness, and abundance of these fungi.

Highlights

Mucorales, a basal fungal order that belongs to the subkingdom Mucoromyceta Doweld, comprises species morphologically characterized by the production of asexual structures, such as sporangia, sporangiola and merosporangia, and by the formation of a sexual spore, the zygospore, in a zygosporangium formed after the fusion of two gametangia (Spatafora et al 2016; Tedersoo et al 2018)
The current study aimed to understand the influence of edaphic attributes linked to species richness, abundance and composition of Mucorales in dense ombrophilous forest, ‘tabuleiro’ forest, sandbank and mangrove ecosystems located in Pernambuco, Brazil
Species composition was similar among the ecosystems, except for mangrove, while species richness and diversity of Mucorales were highest in dense ombrophilous forest and ‘tabuleiro’

Summary

Introduction

A basal fungal order that belongs to the subkingdom Mucoromyceta Doweld, comprises species morphologically characterized by the production of asexual structures, such as sporangia, sporangiola and merosporangia, and by the formation of a sexual spore, the zygospore, in a zygosporangium formed after the fusion of two gametangia (Spatafora et al 2016; Tedersoo et al 2018). Mucorales spp., like other fungi, contribute for the maintenance of ecosystems, including those of the Atlantic Forest, and in this process their communities are influenced by the physical and chemical factors of the soil (Lauber et al 2008; Ziaee et al 2016; Lima et al 2018a). It is unknown whether soil chemical properties, including pH, as well as other environmental variables, such as vegetation, may influence the structure of the mucoralean communities. Our research helps to provide an understanding of how local mucoralean communities are structured by edaphic attributes, mainly in tropical and subtropical forests

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