| Abstract Detail
Mycological Section Glass, Daniel [1], Taylor, Lee [2]. Determination of the Phylogeny and Ecology of Novel Fungal Phyla in the Boreal Forest. A fungal clone library spanning partial ribosomal large subunit (LSU) and internal transcriber spacer (ITS) gene-regions constructed by Taylor et al (2007) from boreal forest soils at the Bonanza Creek LTER near Fairbanks, AK yielded five novel fungal DNA sequences that are divergent from known Phyla, and whose relationships to other fungi are uncertain. Here we report phylogenetic analyses of these sequences. Two of these novel sequences appear to be representatives of the recently discovered soil clone group one (SCG1) described by Schadt et al (2003) while the other three appear to fall within the basal fungal lineages. The latter placements have little statistical support and remain questionable. This may suggest that they represent highly divergent lineages.
We conducted a PCR survey, which shows that two representatives of SCG1 and one other novel taxon are abundant throughout the floodplain black spruce (Picea mariana) site. SCG1 has a large distribution throughout other ecosystems and is likely widely distributed throughout the boreal forest as well. The other two taxa were far less frequent and occurred predominantly in one corner of the black spruce site with one taxon also represented by a single clone in an upland site.
In order to further investigate the distribution and abundance of these taxa throughout the boreal forest and potentially gain insights into their ecological roles, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) will be conducted on soil extracts. Longer portions of the LSU as well as the ribosomal small subunit (SSU) will be amplified and sequenced using taxon-specific primers to obtain more accurate phylogenetic inferences. Together these efforts will provide a basic understanding of the phylogeny and ecology of these novel fungal taxa.
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Related Links:
UAF Molecular Microbial Ecology Lab Homepage
1 - University of Alaska Fairbanks, Biology and Wildlife, 2780 Goldhill Rd, Fairbanks, AK, 99709, USA
2 - University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Arctic Biology, 311 Irving 1, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA
Keywords:
phylogenetics
Fungi
boreal forest
SCG1
novel taxa.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for BSA Sections
Session: P2
Location: Event Tent/Cliff Lodge
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: P2MY012
Abstract ID:351 |
