Dataset Information

Endemism and functional convergence across the North American soil mycobiome.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the ecological processes that structure communities and the consequences for ecosystem function is a central goal of ecology. The recognition that fungi, bacteria, and viruses control key ecosystem functions has made microbial communities a major focus of this field. Because many ecological processes are apparent only at particular spatial or temporal scales, a complete understanding of the linkages between microbial community, environment, and function requires analysis across a wide range of scales. Here, we map the biological and functional geography of soil fungi from local to continental scales and show that the principal ecological processes controlling community structure and function operate at different scales. Similar to plants or animals, most soil fungi are endemic to particular bioregions, suggesting that factors operating at large spatial scales, like dispersal limitation or climate, are the first-order determinants of fungal community structure in nature. By contrast, soil extracellular enzyme activity is highly convergent across bioregions and widely differing fungal communities. Instead, soil enzyme activity is correlated with local soil environment and distribution of fungal traits within the community. The lack of structure-function relationships for soil fungal communities at continental scales indicates a high degree of functional redundancy among fungal communities in global biogeochemical cycles.

SUBMITTER: Talbot JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4035912 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Endemism and functional convergence across the North American soil mycobiome.

Talbot Jennifer M JM Bruns Thomas D TD Taylor John W JW Smith Dylan P DP Branco Sara S Glassman Sydney I SI Erlandson Sonya S Vilgalys Rytas R Liao Hui-Ling HL Smith Matthew E ME Peay Kabir G KG

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20140414 17

Identifying the ecological processes that structure communities and the consequences for ecosystem function is a central goal of ecology. The recognition that fungi, bacteria, and viruses control key ecosystem functions has made microbial communities a major focus of this field. Because many ecological processes are apparent only at particular spatial or temporal scales, a complete understanding of the linkages between microbial community, environment, and function requires analysis across a wid ...[more]

PMID: 24733885

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Project description:White-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has caused catastrophic population declines of bats in eastern North America, is rapidly spreading across the continent and now threatens previously unexposed bat species in western North America. The causal agent of WNS, the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, can infect many species of hibernating bats, but susceptibility to WNS varies by host species. We previously reported that certain traits of the skin microbiome, particularly yeast diversity and abundance, of bat species in eastern North America are strongly associated with resistance to WNS. Using these traits, we developed models to predict WNS susceptibility of 13 species of western North American bats. Based on models derived from yeast species diversity, only one bat species, Myotis velifer, was predicted to be WNS resistant (i.e., may develop the disease, but with low mortality rates). We also screened yeasts found on western bats for P. destructans-antagonistic properties by spore germination and growth inhibition/competition assays and found the ability of yeasts to inhibit P. destructans in vitro to be strain specific. Similar to results of inhibition assays performed with yeasts isolated from bats in eastern North America, few yeasts isolated from bats in western North America inhibited P. destructans in vitro. Continued monitoring of western bat populations will serve to validate the accuracy of the mycobiome analysis in predicting WNS susceptibility, document population and susceptibility trends, and identify additional predictors to assess the vulnerability of naive bat populations to WNS. IMPORTANCE White-nose syndrome is one of the most devastating wildlife diseases ever documented. Some bat species are resistant to or tolerant of the disease, and we previously reported that certain traits of the skin mycobiome of bat species in eastern North America are strongly associated with resistance to WNS. Predicting which western bat species will be most susceptible to WNS would be of great value for establishing conservation priorities. Based on models derived from yeast species diversity, only one bat species was predicted to be WNS resistant. High susceptibility to WNS would pose a significant conservation threat to bats in western North America.

Dataset Information

Endemism and functional convergence across the North American soil mycobiome.

Publications

Endemism and functional convergence across the North American soil mycobiome.

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