Screening of ectomycorrhizal and other associated fungi in South African forest nurseries
- Authors: Chartier FitzGerald, Veronique C , Dames, Joanna F , Hawley, Greer L
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426058 , vital:72310 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-soufor-v82-n4-a8"
- Description: The South African forestry industry covers approximately 1.3 million hectares and is dependent on exotic pine and eucalypt species. Nursery seedlings are not inoculated with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. This investigation assessed levels of naturally occurring ECM colonisation of Pinus patula seedlings from 10 different South African forestry nurseries using a grid line intersect method. Fungi from colonised roots were identified using morphological characteristics and Illumina sequencing. Colonisation of seedlings in production nurseries was low (2-21%). Morphologically, the ECM fungi Thelophora terrestris, Suillus sibiricus, and the genera Russula and Pseudotomentella were identified. Molecularly, the ECM fungi T. terrestris, Inocybe jacobi and the genus Sphaerosporella, as well as several other ECM-containing families were identified, along with many saprotrophic/ endophytic fungi belonging to genera such as Penicillium, Ramasonia and Talaromyces. As can be seen, a combination of both molecular and morphological identification techniques are needed as neither is able to give a full picture of the species present in isolation. This study reveals an initial insight into the root microbiome community associated with Pinus patula seedlings, which should be taken into account when inoculation with beneficial microbes is considered. It determined that natural ECM fungal root colonisation levels are very low throughout the South African nurseries investigated, indicating the need for ECM fungal inoculation, which can increase seedling growth, viability and resistance to pathogens.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Ectomycorrhizas in association with Pinus patula in Sabie, South Africa
- Authors: Hawley, Greer L , Taylor, A F S , Dames, Joanna F
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6475 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006163 , http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S0038-23532008000400011&script=sci_arttext
- Description: Forestry is an economically important industry in South Africa,involving extensive exotic plantations of Eucalyptus, Pinus and Acacia species. These tree species have fungal associations, such as ectomycorrhizas, that have become locally naturalized. The forestry industry is increasingly faced with problems of long-term sustainability, increasing soil acidity and depletion of soil nutrients. It is, therefore, essential that the fundamental importance of the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses in the nutrient cycling, growth, health and survival of these tree species should not be ignored. Research on the species diversity of ECM fungi associated with forestry plant species has been hampered by the difficulty of identifying the fungi involved in the symbiosis. This investigation focused on the ECM fungi associated with Pinus patula (Schlecht. et Cham.) grown in managed plantations in the Sabie region, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. ECM roots were morphotyped and DNA was extracted. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified using the ITS 1F and ITS 4 primers. The sequences were BLASTed using the GenBank and UNITE databases. Twenty-seven extractions were successfully amplified representing 17 different morphotypes. Of the 27 sequences, 21 were identified as ECM fungi and, from the BLAST results, eleven different ECM species could be identified. Selected ECM root types were morphologically and anatomically described according to root morphology, mantle structure, specialized hyphae and rhizomorph arrangement. Seven dominant field types were described and identified as two Amanita species, Scleroderma citrinum, a suilloid species, Thelephora terrestris, a tometelloid species and one resembled an Albatrellus species.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Mycorrhizal status of indigenous tree species in a forest biome of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Hawley, Greer L , Dames, Joanna F
- Date: 2004
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005774
- Description: Mycorrhizal fungi are intimately associated with plant roots, affecting plant growth, health and increasing the plants' tolerance to environmental stress. Several mycorrhizal types are recognized based primarily on morphological characteristics within plant roots. When considering propagation and management of an indigenous plant species, it is essential to know its mycorrhizal status. Root samples from 17 tree species common to the pockets of forest in the Eastern Cape province, and representing the families Rubiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Oleaceae, Podocarpaceae, Myrsinaceae, Anacardiaceae, Caesalpinoideae, Papilionoideae, Rutaceae, Meliaceae, Celastraceae, Flacouticeae and Ebenaceae, were sampled and examined for mycorrhizal colonization. Microscopic examination of all the species produced evidence of morphological structures indicative of endomycorrhizal associations as indicated by the presence of intercellular hyphae combined with vesicles, arbuscules or hyphal coils. Hyphal coils (also known as Paris-type associations) appeared to be abundant, especially within the Cassine genus. Arbuscules (also known as Arum-type associations) were scarce but sometimes present, and vesicles were prolific in Olea capensis. Most of the tree species examined have been assigned arbuscular mycorrhizal status. No ectomycorrhizal associations were recorded
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- Date Issued: 2004