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A preliminary survey of lichen associated eukaryotes using pyrosequencing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2011

Scott T. BATES ,
Donna BERG-LYONS ,
Christian L. LAUBER ,
William A. WALTERS ,
Rob KNIGHT  and
Noah FIERER
Scott T. BATES
Affiliation:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. Email: scott.bates@colorado.edu
Donna BERG-LYONS
Affiliation:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. Email: scott.bates@colorado.edu
Christian L. LAUBER
Affiliation:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. Email: scott.bates@colorado.edu
William A. WALTERS
Affiliation:
Department of Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Rob KNIGHT
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Noah FIERER
Affiliation:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. Email: scott.bates@colorado.edu Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
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Abstract

Although various eukaryotic organisms, such as arthropods, endolichenic/lichenicolous fungi, and nematodes, have been isolated from lichens, the diversity and structure of eukaryotic communities associated with lichen thalli has not been well studied. In addressing this knowledge gap, we used bar-coded pyrosequencing of 18S rRNA genes to survey eukaryotes associated with thalli of three different lichen species. In addition to revealing an expected high abundance of lichen biont-related 18S genes, sequences recovered in our survey showed non-biont fungi from the Ascomycota also have a substantial presence in these thalli. Our samples additionally harboured fungi representing phyla (Blastocladiomycota, Chytridiomycota) that have not been isolated previously from lichens; however, their very low abundance indicates an incidental presence. The recovery of Alveolata, Metazoa, and Rhizaria sequences, along with recent work revealing the considerable bacterial diversity in these same samples, suggests lichens function as minute ecosystems in addition to being symbiotic organisms.

Keywords

Ascomycotabacteriaendolichenic/lichenicolous fungiinvertebrates
Type
Research Article
Information
The Lichenologist , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 137 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © British Lichen Society 2011

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