Fungi rather than bacteria drive early mass loss from fungal necromass regardless of particle size

Pérez‐Pazos, Eduardo; Beidler, Katilyn V.; Narayanan, Achala; Beatty, Briana H.; Maillard, François; Bancos, Alexandra; Heckman, Katherine A.; Kennedy, Peter G.

doi:10.1111/1758-2229.13280

Fungi rather than bacteria drive early mass loss from fungal necromass regardless of particle size

Journal Article · Sun Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Environmental Microbiology Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.13280· OSTI ID:2470372

^[1]; Beidler, Katilyn V. ^[1]; Narayanan, Achala ^[1]; Beatty, Briana H. ^[1]; Maillard, François ^[2]; Bancos, Alexandra ^[1]; Heckman, Katherine A. ^[3]; Kennedy, Peter G. ^[1]

Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States)
Lund Univ. (Sweden)
USDA Forest Service, Houghton, MI (United States)

Microbial necromass is increasingly recognized as an important fast-cycling component of the long-term carbon present in soils. To better understand how fungi and bacteria individually contribute to the decomposition of fungal necromass, three particle sizes (>500, 250–500, and <250 μm) of Hyaloscypha bicolor necromass were incubated in laboratory microcosms inoculated with individual strains of two fungi and two bacteria. Decomposition was assessed after 15 and 28 days via necromass loss, microbial respiration, and changes in necromass pH, water content, and chemistry. To examine how fungal–bacterial interactions impact microbial growth on necromass, single and paired cultures of bacteria and fungi were grown in microplates containing necromass-infused media. Microbial growth was measured after 5 days through quantitative PCR. Regardless of particle size, necromass colonized by fungi had higher mass loss and respiration than both bacteria and uninoculated controls. Fungal colonization increased necromass pH, water content, and altered chemistry, while necromass colonized by bacteria remained mostly unaltered. Bacteria grew significantly more when co-cultured with a fungus, while fungal growth was not significantly affected by bacteria. Collectively, our results suggest that fungi act as key early decomposers of fungal necromass and that bacteria may require the presence of fungi to actively participate in necromass decomposition.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

OSTI ID:: 2470372

Journal Information:: Environmental Microbiology Reports, Journal Name: Environmental Microbiology Reports Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 16; ISSN 1758-2229

Publisher:: Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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