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July 7, 2019  |  

Host genetic variation strongly influences the microbiome structure and function in fungal fruiting-bodies.

Authors: Pent, Mari and Hiltunen, Markus and Põldmaa, Kadri and Furneaux, Brendan and Hildebrand, Falk and Johannesson, Hanna and Ryberg, Martin and Bahram, Mohammad

Despite increasing knowledge on host-associated microbiomes, little is known about mechanisms underlying fungus-microbiome interactions. This study aimed to examine the relative importance of host genetic, geographic and environmental variations in structuring fungus-associated microbiomes. We analyzed the taxonomic composition and function of microbiomes inhabiting fungal fruiting-bodies in relation to host genetic variation, soil pH and geographic distance between samples. For this, we sequenced the metagenomes of 40 fruiting-bodies collected from six fairy rings (i.e., genets) of a saprotrophic fungus Marasmius oreades. Our analyses revealed that fine genetic variations between host fungi could strongly affect their associated microbiome, explaining, respectively, 25% and 37% of the variation in microbiome structure and function, whereas geographic distance and soil pH remained of secondary importance. These results, together with the smaller genome size of fungi compared to other eukaryotes, suggest that fruiting-bodies are suitable for further genome-centric studies on host-microbiome interactions.© 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Journal: Environmental microbiology
DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14069
Year: 2018

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