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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » WHGQ » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #349132
Research Project: Biology, Ecology, and Genomics of Pathogenic and Beneficial Microorganisms of Wheat, Barley, and Biofuel Brassicas

Location: Wheat Health, Genetics, and Quality Research

Title: Mycological insights into wetland fungal communities: The mycobiome of Camassia in the Pacific Northwest

Author
item FREED, G. - Washington State University
item Schlatter, Daniel
item Paulitz, Timothy
item Dugan, Frank

Submitted to: Phytobiomes Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/3/2019
Publication Date: 11/5/2019
Citation: Freed, G., Schlatter, D.C., Paulitz, T.C., Dugan, F.M. 2019. Mycological insights into wetland fungal communities: The mycobiome of Camassia in the Pacific Northwest. Phytobiomes Journal. 2019(3):286-299. https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-04-19-0022-R.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-04-19-0022-R

Interpretive Summary: Camas is a native plant to the Pacific Northwest, and an important food with cultural significance to the Native Americans. This study used conventional culturing methods and molecular methods to describe the communities of fungi on different parts of the plant, sampled from a number of locations and ecosystems. The communities varied widely among the locations and plant tissues. This is the first complete study of the fungal biome of camas.

Technical Abstract: Camassia (camas) is an endemic geophyte growing in freshwater wetland ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Wetland ecosystems rely on fungi to promote plant health and decomposition of plant litter under conditions of ephemeral soil moisture. Camas is a valued component of native wetland remnants, a foundational plant for restoration efforts and has cultural significance for Native Americans of the region. We profiled the composition of fungal assemblages (communities) associated with camas sampled from biogeographically distinct populations using both culture-based and culture-independent methods. High-throughput sequencing of camas tissue types (root, tunic, leaf), as well as rhizosphere and soil collected from six habitats (meadow, serpentine, savanna, swale, mitigation and garden) revealed diverse fungal assemblages that differed significantly among sample types and habitat of origin. Camas fungal communities were characterized by many saprobes, endophytes, mycorrhizae and potential pathogens. Analyses of the similarity of rhizosphere and soil fungal communities among the habitats showed that a few dominant taxa, primarily Purpureocillium, but also Mortierella, Ilyonectria and Metarhizium largely contributed to diversity. However, other OTUs related to Neobulgaria, Cadophora, Delicatula, Rhizoctonia, Sistotrema, Tetracladium, Serendipita and Fusarium also differed significantly in relative abundance among habitats. Leaf fungal assemblages harbored many taxa not detected in the other sample types and were dominated by Cladosporium, Alternaria and Cryptococcus species. Edaphic characteristics of clay and C:N were associated to the variation among the root, tunic, rhizosphere and proximal soil communities. Local environment was the strongest driving force of community composition for each sample type. These findings are valuable for the broad understanding of fungal communities associated with camas among distinct plant populations in wetland ecosystems.