TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ranger, Christopher M.
A1  - Biedermann, Peter HW
A1  - Phuntumart, Vipaporn
A1  - Beligala, Gayathri U.
A1  - Ghosh, Satyaki
A1  - Palmquist, Debra E.
A1  - Mueller, Robert
A1  - Barnett, Jenny
A1  - Schultz, Peter B.
A1  - Reding, Michael E.
A1  - Benz, J. Philipp
T1  - Symbiont selection via alcohol benefits fungus farming by ambrosia beetles
JF  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
N2  - Animal-microbe mutualisms are typically maintained by vertical symbiont transmission or partner choice. A third mechanism, screening of high-quality symbionts, has been predicted in theory, but empirical examples are rare. Here we demonstrate that ambrosia beetles rely on ethanol within host trees for promoting gardens of their fungal symbiont and producing offspring. Ethanol has long been known as the main attractant for many of these fungus-farming beetles as they select host trees in which they excavate tunnels and cultivate fungal gardens. More than 300 attacks by Xylosandrus germanus and other species were triggered by baiting trees with ethanol lures, but none of the foundresses established fungal gardens or produced broods unless tree tissues contained in vivo ethanol resulting from irrigation with ethanol solutions. More X. germanus brood were also produced in a rearing substrate containing ethanol. These benefits are a result of increased food supply via the positive effects of ethanol on food-fungus biomass. Selected Ambrosiella and Raffaelea fungal isolates from ethanol-responsive ambrosia beetles profited directly and indirectly by (i) a higher biomass on medium containing ethanol, (ii) strong alcohol dehydrogenase enzymatic activity, and (iii) a competitive advantage over weedy fungal garden competitors (Aspergillus, Penicillium) that are inhibited by ethanol. As ambrosia fungi both detoxify and produce ethanol, they may maintain the selectivity of their alcohol-rich habitat for their own purpose and that of other ethanol-resistant/producing microbes. This resembles biological screening of beneficial symbionts and a potentially widespread, unstudied benefit of alcohol-producing symbionts (e.g., yeasts) in other microbial symbioses.
KW  - fungus-farming insects
KW  - plant-insect-microbe interactions
KW  - symbiosis
KW  - insect-fungus mutualism
KW  - host screening
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224953
VL  - 115
IS  - 17
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - König, Julia
A1  - Guerreiro, Marco Alexandre
A1  - Peršoh, Derek
A1  - Begerow, Dominik
A1  - Krauss, Jochen
T1  - Knowing your neighbourhood - the effects of Epichloë endophytes on foliar fungal assemblages in perennial ryegrass in dependence of season and land-use intensity
JF  - PeerJ
N2  - Epichloë endophytes associated with cool-season grass species can protect their hosts from herbivory and can suppress mycorrhizal colonization of the hosts’ roots. However, little is known about whether or not Epichloë endophyte infection can also change the foliar fungal assemblages of the host. We tested 52 grassland study sites along a land-use intensity gradient in three study regions over two seasons (spring vs. summer) to determine whether Epichloë infection of the host grass Lolium perenne changes the fungal community structure in leaves. Foliar fungal communities were assessed by Next Generation Sequencing of the ITS rRNA gene region. Fungal community structure was strongly affected by study region and season in our study, while land-use intensity and infection with Epichloë endophytes had no significant effects. We conclude that effects on non-systemic endophytes resulting from land use practices and Epichloë infection reported in other studies were masked by local and seasonal variability in this study’s grassland sites.
KW  - endophytic fungi
KW  - symbiosis
KW  - Lolium perenne
KW  - land use
KW  - fungus-plant interaction
KW  - foliar fungal community
KW  - Epichloë
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-176814
VL  - 6
IS  - e4660
ER  -