Investigating Wood Decaying Fungi Diversity in Central Siberia, Russia Using ITS Sequence Analysis and Interaction with Host Trees

Ji-Hyun Park,Young Woon Lim,Myung Soo Park,Jonathan J Fong,Igor N Pavlov,Ki Hyeong Park,Min-Ji Kim,Seung-Yoon Oh

doi:10.3390/su12062535

Abstract

Wood-decay fungi (WDF) play a significant role in recycling nutrients, using enzymatic and mechanical processes to degrade wood. Designated as a biodiversity hot spot, Central Siberia is a geographically important region for understanding the spatial distribution and the evolutionary processes shaping biodiversity. There have been several studies of WDF diversity in Central Siberia, but identification of species was based on morphological characteristics, lacking detailed descriptions and molecular data. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify WDF in Central Siberia, regarding the degradation of host trees based on both morphological and molecular analyses. We collected 106 WDF samples from Krasnoyarsk and the Republic of Khakassia in 2014 and 2017, and identified a total of 52 fungal species from six main host tree genera. In order to assess the host preference of the WDF, we examined previous literature, and data from this study. We confirmed a division in host preference of WDF between gymnosperms and angiosperms. DNA-based identification and host preference assessment of the WDF provide preliminary data on WDF diversity and their role in nutrient cycles in the ecosystem of Central Siberia. To fully understand WDF diversity in Central Siberia, continuous long-term surveys, including DNA sequence data, are needed.

Highlights

Wood-decay fungi (WDF) decompose dead wood or attack living trees as a pathogen
WDF with obvious and distinct morphological characters were identified on the spot during the collection
The remaining specimens could not be identified to the species-level based only on their macro- and micromorphologies, so they were identified based on the sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region

Summary

Introduction

Wood-decay fungi (WDF) decompose dead wood or attack living trees as a pathogen. Wood decomposition is a crucial biological process that breaks down complex molecules and recycles nutrients back to the soil [1,2]. Polypore decay fungi form a polyphyletic group, with representatives in the orders Hymenochaetales, Polyporales, and Gloeophyllales. Gilled pleurotoid and corticoid decay fungi form polyphyletic groups with representatives in orders Hymenochaetales, Corticiales, and Russulales [7,8]. WDF degrade wood using both enzymatic and mechanical processes, and based on the type of decay of the wood lingo-cellulose material, WDF fall into two groups: brown-rot fungi and white-rot fungi [3]

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Methods

Results