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Disruption of photoautotrophic intertidal mats by filamentous fungi
Author(s) -
Carreira Cátia,
Staal Marc,
Falkoski Daniel,
Vries Ronald P.,
Middelboe Mathias,
Brussaard Corina P. D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12835
Subject(s) - biology , intertidal zone , microbial mat , cyanobacteria , photosynthesis , botany , fungus , algae , bacteria , ecology , genetics
Summary Ring‐like structures, 2.0–4.8 cm in diameter, observed in photosynthetic microbial mats on the W adden S ea island Schiermonnikoog (the N etherlands) showed to be the result of the fungus E mericellopsis sp. degrading the photoautotrophic top layer of the mat. The mats were predominantly composed of cyanobacteria and diatoms, with large densities of bacteria and viruses both in the top photosynthetic layer and in the underlying sediment. The fungal attack cleared the photosynthetic layer; however, no significant effect of the fungal lysis on the bacterial and viral abundances could be detected. Fungal‐mediated degradation of the major photoautotrophs could be reproduced by inoculation of non‐infected mat with isolated E mericellopsis sp., and with an infected ring sector. Diatoms were the first re‐colonizers followed closely by cyanobacteria that after about 5 days dominated the space. The study demonstrated that the fungus E mericellopsis sp. efficiently degraded a photoautotrophic microbial mat, with potential implications for mat community composition, spatial structure and productivity.