Regulation of fungal decomposition at single-cell level
(2020) In ISME Journal 14(4). p.896-905- Abstract
Filamentous fungi play a key role as decomposers in Earth’s nutrient cycles. In soils, substrates are heterogeneously distributed in microenvironments. Hence, individual hyphae of a mycelium may experience very different environmental conditions simultaneously. In the current work, we investigated how fungi cope with local environmental variations at single-cell level. We developed a method based on infrared spectroscopy that allows the direct, in-situ chemical imaging of the decomposition activity of individual hyphal tips. Colonies of the ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete Paxillus involutus were grown on liquid media, while parts of colonies were allowed to colonize lignin patches. Oxidative decomposition of lignin by individual hyphae... (More)
Filamentous fungi play a key role as decomposers in Earth’s nutrient cycles. In soils, substrates are heterogeneously distributed in microenvironments. Hence, individual hyphae of a mycelium may experience very different environmental conditions simultaneously. In the current work, we investigated how fungi cope with local environmental variations at single-cell level. We developed a method based on infrared spectroscopy that allows the direct, in-situ chemical imaging of the decomposition activity of individual hyphal tips. Colonies of the ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete Paxillus involutus were grown on liquid media, while parts of colonies were allowed to colonize lignin patches. Oxidative decomposition of lignin by individual hyphae growing under different conditions was followed for a period of seven days. We identified two sub-populations of hyphal tips: one with low decomposition activity and one with much higher activity. Active cells secreted more extracellular polymeric substances and oxidized lignin more strongly. The ratio of active to inactive hyphae strongly depended on the environmental conditions in lignin patches, but was further mediated by the decomposition activity of entire mycelia. Phenotypic heterogeneity occurring between genetically identical hyphal tips may be an important strategy for filamentous fungi to cope with heterogeneous and constantly changing soil environments.
(Less)
- author
- Op De Beeck, Michiel LU ; Troein, Carl LU ; Siregar, Syahril LU ; Gentile, Luigi LU ; Abbondanza, Giuseppe LU ; Peterson, Carsten LU ; Persson, Per LU and Tunlid, Anders LU
- organization
-
- MEMEG
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- Microbial Ecology (research group)
- Computational Science for Health and Environment (research group)
- Computational Biology and Biological Physics - Undergoing reorganization
- Synchrotron Radiation Research
- NanoLund: Centre for Nanoscience
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
- publishing date
- 2020-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- ISME Journal
- volume
- 14
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85077612432
- pmid:31896790
- ISSN
- 1751-7362
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41396-019-0583-9
- project
- MICCS - Molecular Interactions Controlling soil Carbon Sequestration
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 39f9ee6d-1d52-4d18-8d87-0cc3cbda7ccf
- date added to LUP
- 2020-01-28 11:04:54
- date last changed
- 2024-04-22 16:30:39
@article{39f9ee6d-1d52-4d18-8d87-0cc3cbda7ccf, abstract = {{<p>Filamentous fungi play a key role as decomposers in Earth’s nutrient cycles. In soils, substrates are heterogeneously distributed in microenvironments. Hence, individual hyphae of a mycelium may experience very different environmental conditions simultaneously. In the current work, we investigated how fungi cope with local environmental variations at single-cell level. We developed a method based on infrared spectroscopy that allows the direct, in-situ chemical imaging of the decomposition activity of individual hyphal tips. Colonies of the ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete Paxillus involutus were grown on liquid media, while parts of colonies were allowed to colonize lignin patches. Oxidative decomposition of lignin by individual hyphae growing under different conditions was followed for a period of seven days. We identified two sub-populations of hyphal tips: one with low decomposition activity and one with much higher activity. Active cells secreted more extracellular polymeric substances and oxidized lignin more strongly. The ratio of active to inactive hyphae strongly depended on the environmental conditions in lignin patches, but was further mediated by the decomposition activity of entire mycelia. Phenotypic heterogeneity occurring between genetically identical hyphal tips may be an important strategy for filamentous fungi to cope with heterogeneous and constantly changing soil environments.</p>}}, author = {{Op De Beeck, Michiel and Troein, Carl and Siregar, Syahril and Gentile, Luigi and Abbondanza, Giuseppe and Peterson, Carsten and Persson, Per and Tunlid, Anders}}, issn = {{1751-7362}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{4}}, pages = {{896--905}}, publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}}, series = {{ISME Journal}}, title = {{Regulation of fungal decomposition at single-cell level}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0583-9}}, doi = {{10.1038/s41396-019-0583-9}}, volume = {{14}}, year = {{2020}}, }