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Bacteria constrain the fungal growth response to drying-rewetting

Hicks, Lettice C. LU ; Ang, Royce ; Leizeaga, Ainara LU and Rousk, Johannes LU (2019) In Soil Biology and Biochemistry 134. p.108-112
Abstract

Bacteria and fungi are the two principal decomposer groups in soils, determining rates of biogeochemical cycling. Rewetting of dry soils induces enormous dynamics in biogeochemistry. Bacteria have been shown to exhibit large variation in growth over time upon drying-rewetting (D/RW), however, in studies to date, fungal growth has shown limited responsiveness. Here we investigated whether fungal growth responses to D/RW are constrained by competition with bacteria by using the bactericide bronopol to suppress bacterial growth during D/RW. We examined responses for two different soils, previously shown to exhibit different bacterial growth responses to D/RW. Experimental elimination of bacterial growth lead to increased fungal growth in... (More)

Bacteria and fungi are the two principal decomposer groups in soils, determining rates of biogeochemical cycling. Rewetting of dry soils induces enormous dynamics in biogeochemistry. Bacteria have been shown to exhibit large variation in growth over time upon drying-rewetting (D/RW), however, in studies to date, fungal growth has shown limited responsiveness. Here we investigated whether fungal growth responses to D/RW are constrained by competition with bacteria by using the bactericide bronopol to suppress bacterial growth during D/RW. We examined responses for two different soils, previously shown to exhibit different bacterial growth responses to D/RW. Experimental elimination of bacterial growth lead to increased fungal growth in both soils upon D/RW, indicating a competitive release of fungal growth when bacteria were suppressed. We also observed a pronounced fungal growth response to D/RW for one of the soils, which has not been previously reported. In this case, even when rewetting with water (i.e. without bacterial suppression), fungal growth increased to reach rates 10-times greater than in the moist control soil. The peak in fungal growth coincided with a secondary peak of respiration, revealing a functional importance of fungi for C-cycling during D/RW. The decline in fungal growth following this peak also coincided with the onset of exponential bacterial growth, further strengthening evidence for a negative correlation between bacteria and fungi, suggesting that competition with bacteria can constrain the fungal growth response to D/RW.

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; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antibiotics, Bactericide, Birch effect, Drought, Ecology, Microbial competition
in
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
volume
134
pages
5 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85063952572
ISSN
0038-0717
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.03.006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f1396045-4c37-4475-bbc1-d499ed343e56
date added to LUP
2019-04-24 12:35:31
date last changed
2022-04-25 22:40:42
@article{f1396045-4c37-4475-bbc1-d499ed343e56,
  abstract     = {{<p>Bacteria and fungi are the two principal decomposer groups in soils, determining rates of biogeochemical cycling. Rewetting of dry soils induces enormous dynamics in biogeochemistry. Bacteria have been shown to exhibit large variation in growth over time upon drying-rewetting (D/RW), however, in studies to date, fungal growth has shown limited responsiveness. Here we investigated whether fungal growth responses to D/RW are constrained by competition with bacteria by using the bactericide bronopol to suppress bacterial growth during D/RW. We examined responses for two different soils, previously shown to exhibit different bacterial growth responses to D/RW. Experimental elimination of bacterial growth lead to increased fungal growth in both soils upon D/RW, indicating a competitive release of fungal growth when bacteria were suppressed. We also observed a pronounced fungal growth response to D/RW for one of the soils, which has not been previously reported. In this case, even when rewetting with water (i.e. without bacterial suppression), fungal growth increased to reach rates 10-times greater than in the moist control soil. The peak in fungal growth coincided with a secondary peak of respiration, revealing a functional importance of fungi for C-cycling during D/RW. The decline in fungal growth following this peak also coincided with the onset of exponential bacterial growth, further strengthening evidence for a negative correlation between bacteria and fungi, suggesting that competition with bacteria can constrain the fungal growth response to D/RW.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hicks, Lettice C. and Ang, Royce and Leizeaga, Ainara and Rousk, Johannes}},
  issn         = {{0038-0717}},
  keywords     = {{Antibiotics; Bactericide; Birch effect; Drought; Ecology; Microbial competition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{108--112}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Soil Biology and Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Bacteria constrain the fungal growth response to drying-rewetting}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.03.006}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.03.006}},
  volume       = {{134}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}