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Wood decay fungus Flavodon ambrosius (Basidiomycota: Polyporales) is widely farmed by two genera of ambrosia beetles

Li, You ; Bateman, Craig Christopher ; Skelton, James ; Jusino, Michelle Alice ; Nolen, Zachary John LU orcid ; Simmons, David Rabern and Hulcr, Jiri (2017) In Fungal Biology 121(11). p.984-989
Abstract

The ambrosia fungus Flavodon ambrosius is the primary nutritional mutualist of ambrosia beetles Ambrosiodmus and Ambrosiophilus in North America. F. ambrosius is the only known ambrosial basidiomycete, unique in its efficient lignocellulose degradation. F. ambrosius is associated with both native American beetle species and species introduced from Asia. It remains unknown whether F. ambrosius is strictly a North American fungus, or whether it is also associated with these ambrosia beetle genera on other continents. We isolated fungi from the mycangia and galleries of ambrosia beetles Ambrosiodmus rubricollis, Ambrosiodmus minor, Ambrosiophilus atratus, and Ambrosiophilus... (More)

The ambrosia fungus Flavodon ambrosius is the primary nutritional mutualist of ambrosia beetles Ambrosiodmus and Ambrosiophilus in North America. F. ambrosius is the only known ambrosial basidiomycete, unique in its efficient lignocellulose degradation. F. ambrosius is associated with both native American beetle species and species introduced from Asia. It remains unknown whether F. ambrosius is strictly a North American fungus, or whether it is also associated with these ambrosia beetle genera on other continents. We isolated fungi from the mycangia and galleries of ambrosia beetles Ambrosiodmus rubricollis, Ambrosiodmus minor, Ambrosiophilus atratus, and Ambrosiophilus subnepotulus in China, South Korea, and Vietnam. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that all Asian and North American isolates represent a single haplotype. These results confirm Flavodon ambrosius as the exclusive mutualistic fungus of multiple Ambrosiodmus and Ambrosiophilus beetle species around the world, making it the most widespread known ambrosia fungus species, both geographically and in terms of the number of beetle species. The Flavodon-beetle symbiosis appears to employ an unusually strict mechanism for maintaining fidelity, compared to the symbioses of the related Xyleborini beetles, which mostly vector more dynamic fungal communities.

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publishing date
type
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publication status
published
keywords
Ambrosia/microbiology, Animals, Asia, Cluster Analysis, DNA, Fungal/chemistry, DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry, DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/chemistry, Feeding Behavior, Genes, rRNA, North America, Phylogeny, Polyporales/classification, RNA, Fungal/genetics, RNA, Ribosomal, 28S/genetics, RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S/genetics, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Weevils/microbiology
in
Fungal Biology
volume
121
issue
11
pages
984 - 989
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:29029704
  • scopus:85029231015
ISSN
1878-6146
DOI
10.1016/j.funbio.2017.08.004
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Copyright © 2017 British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
id
82995ee7-c69e-4722-a1df-778c1421dd33
date added to LUP
2020-12-07 11:27:03
date last changed
2024-05-16 00:31:45
@article{82995ee7-c69e-4722-a1df-778c1421dd33,
  abstract     = {{<p>The ambrosia fungus <i>Flavodon ambrosius </i>is the primary nutritional mutualist of ambrosia beetles <i>Ambrosiodmus</i> and <i>Ambrosiophilus</i> in North America. <i>F. ambrosius</i> is the only known ambrosial basidiomycete, unique in its efficient lignocellulose degradation. F. ambrosius is associated with both native American beetle species and species introduced from Asia. It remains unknown whether <i>F. ambrosius</i> is strictly a North American fungus, or whether it is also associated with these ambrosia beetle genera on other continents. We isolated fungi from the mycangia and galleries of ambrosia beetles <i>Ambrosiodmus rubricollis</i>, <i>Ambrosiodmus minor</i>, <i>Ambrosiophilus atratus</i>, and <i>Ambrosiophilus subnepotulus</i> in China, South Korea, and Vietnam. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that all Asian and North American isolates represent a single haplotype. These results confirm <i>Flavodon ambrosius</i> as the exclusive mutualistic fungus of multiple <i>Ambrosiodmus</i> and <i>Ambrosiophilus</i> beetle species around the world, making it the most widespread known ambrosia fungus species, both geographically and in terms of the number of beetle species. The Flavodon-beetle symbiosis appears to employ an unusually strict mechanism for maintaining fidelity, compared to the symbioses of the related Xyleborini beetles, which mostly vector more dynamic fungal communities.</p>}},
  author       = {{Li, You and Bateman, Craig Christopher and Skelton, James and Jusino, Michelle Alice and Nolen, Zachary John and Simmons, David Rabern and Hulcr, Jiri}},
  issn         = {{1878-6146}},
  keywords     = {{Ambrosia/microbiology; Animals; Asia; Cluster Analysis; DNA, Fungal/chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/chemistry; Feeding Behavior; Genes, rRNA; North America; Phylogeny; Polyporales/classification; RNA, Fungal/genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 28S/genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 5.8S/genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Weevils/microbiology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{984--989}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Fungal Biology}},
  title        = {{Wood decay fungus <i>Flavodon ambrosius</i> (Basidiomycota: Polyporales) is widely farmed by two genera of ambrosia beetles}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2017.08.004}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.funbio.2017.08.004}},
  volume       = {{121}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}