Open AccessIn vitro decomposition of Sphagnum by some microfungi resembles white rot of wood
Author(s) -
Rice Adrianne V.,
Tsuneda Akihiko,
Currah Randolph S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00071.x
Subject(s) - sphagnum , microfungi , biology , botany , bog , cellulose , tannic acid , mineralization (soil science) , peat , ecology , biochemistry , soil water
Abstract The abilities of some ascomycetes ( Myxotrichaceae ) from a Sphagnum bog in Alberta to degrade cellulose, phenolics, and Sphagnum tissue were compared with those of two basidiomycetes. Most Myxotrichaceae degraded cellulose and tannic acid, and removed cell‐wall components simultaneously from Sphagnum tissues, whereas the basidiomycetes degraded cellulose and insoluble phenolics, and preferentially removed the polyphenolic matrix from Sphagnum cell walls. Mass losses from Sphagnum varied from up to 50% for some ascomycetes to a maximum of 35% for the basidiomycetes. The decomposition of Sphagnum by the Myxotrichaceae was analogous to the white rot of wood and indicates that these fungi have the potential to cause significant mineralization of carbon in bogs.