Project description:This study reports the whole chloroplast genome of Fagus crenata (subgenus Fagus), a foundation tree species of Japanese temperate forests. The genome has a total of 158,227 bp containing 111 genes, including 76 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. Comparison with the only other published Fagus chloroplast genome, F. engeleriana (subgenus Engleriana) shows that the genomes are relatively conserved with no inversions or rearrangements observed while the proportion of nucleotide sites differing between the two species was equal to 0.0018. The six most variable regions were, in increasing order of variability, psbK-psbI, trnG-psbfM, rpl32, trnV, ndhI-ndh and ndhD-psaC. These highly variable chloroplast regions in addition to 160 chloroplast microsatellites identified (of which 46 were variable between the two species) will provide useful genetic resources for studies of the inter- and intra-specific genetic structure and diversity of this important northern hemisphere tree genus.
Project description:Non-lichenised fungi from Fagus crenata, an endemic and major temperate tree species, were enumerated based on three approaches: fungarium specimens at the National Museum of Nature and Science; isolates obtained mainly from leaves and roots, and their molecular identification by barcoding region; and literature. In total, 209, 49, and 232 taxa were recognised from the fungarium specimens, isolates, and literature, respectively. Only three taxa were commonly observed using all three approaches. Moreover, the results demonstrate the diversity of fungi occurring on a single host plant species, and provide the basis for comparisons between fungi from Fagus spp. in other regions of the world.
