Harald Kellner

Simulated Atmospheric N Deposition Alters Fungal Community Composition and Suppresses Ligninolytic Gene Expression in a Northern Hardwood Forest

High levels of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition may result in greater terrestrial carbon (C) storage. In a northern hardwood ecosystem, exposure to over a decade of simulated N deposition increased C storage in soil by slowing litter decay rates, rather than increasing detrital inputs. To understand the mechanisms underlying this response, we focused on the saprotrophic fungal community residing in the forest floor and employed molecular genetic approaches to determine if the slower decomposition rates resulted from down-regulation of the transcription of key lignocellulolytic genes, by a change in fungal community composition, or by a combination of the two mechanisms. Our results indicate that across four Acer-dominated forest stands spanning a 500-km transect, community-scale expression of the cellulolytic gene cbhI under elevated N deposition did not differ significantly from that under ambient levels of N deposition. In contrast, expression of the ligninolytic gene lcc was significantly down-regulated by a factor of 2–4 fold relative to its expression under ambient N deposition. Fungal community composition was examined at the most southerly of the four sites, in which consistently lower levels of cbhI and lcc gene expression were observed over a two-year period. We recovered 19 basidiomycete and 28 ascomycete rDNA 28S operational taxonomic units; Athelia, Sistotrema, Ceratobasidium and Ceratosebacina taxa dominated the basidiomycete assemblage, and Leotiomycetes dominated the ascomycetes. Simulated N deposition increased the proportion of basidiomycete sequences recovered from forest floor, whereas the proportion of ascomycetes in the community was significantly lower under elevated N deposition. Our results suggest that chronic atmospheric N deposition may lower decomposition rates through a combination of reduced expression of ligninolytic genes such as lcc, and compositional changes in the fungal community.

Widespread occurrence of expressed fungal secretory peroxidases in forest soils

Fungal secretory peroxidases mediate fundamental ecological functions in the conversion and degradation of plant biomass. Many of these enzymes have strong oxidizing activities towards aromatic compounds and are involved in the degradation of plant cell wall (lignin) and humus. They comprise three major groups: class II peroxidases (including lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, versatile peroxidase and generic peroxidase), dye-decolorizing peroxidases, and heme-thiolate peroxidases (e.g. unspecific/aromatic peroxygenase, chloroperoxidase). Here, we have repeatedly observed a widespread expression of all major peroxidase groups in leaf and needle litter across a range of forest ecosystems (e.g. Fagus, Picea, Acer, Quercus, and Populus spp.), which are widespread in Europe and North America. Manganese peroxidases and unspecific peroxygenases were found expressed in all nine investigated forest sites, and dye-decolorizing peroxidases were observed in five of the nine sites, thereby indicating biological significance of these enzymes for fungal physiology and ecosystem processes. Transcripts of selected secretory peroxidase genes were also analyzed in pure cultures of several litter-decomposing species and other fungi. Using this information, we were able to match, in environmental litter samples, two manganese peroxidase sequences to Mycena galopus and Mycena epipterygia and one unspecific peroxygenase transcript to Mycena galopus, suggesting an important role of this litter- and coarse woody debris-dwelling genus in the disintegration and transformation of litter aromatics and organic matter formation.

The Wood Rot Ascomycete Xylaria polymorpha Produces a Novel GH78 Glycoside Hydrolase That Exhibits α-l-Rhamnosidase and Feruloyl Esterase Activities and Releases Hydroxycinnamic Acids from Lignocelluloses

ABSTRACT Soft rot (type II) fungi belonging to the family Xylariaceae are known to substantially degrade hardwood by means of their poorly understood lignocellulolytic system, which comprises various hydrolases, including feruloyl esterases and laccase. In the present study, several members of the Xylariaceae were found to exhibit high feruloyl esterase activity during growth on lignocellulosic materials such as wheat straw (up to 1,675 mU g−1) or beech wood (up to 80 mU g−1). Following the ester-cleaving activity toward methyl ferulate, a hydrolase of Xylaria polymorpha was produced in solid-state culture on wheat straw and purified by different steps of anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography to apparent homogeneity (specific activity, 2.2 U mg−1). The peptide sequence of the purified protein deduced from the gene sequence and verified by de novo peptide sequencing shows high similarity to putative α-l-rhamnosidase sequences belonging to the glycoside hydrolase family 78 (GH78; classified under EC 3.2.1.40). The purified enzyme (98 kDa by SDS-PAGE, 103 kDa by size-exclusion chromatography; pI 3.7) converted diverse glycosides (e.g., α-l-rhamnopyranoside and α-l-arabinofuranoside) but also natural and synthetic esters (e.g., chlorogenic acid, hydroxycinnamic acid glycoside esters, veratric acid esters, or p-nitrophenyl acetate) and released free hydroxycinnamic acids (ferulic and coumaric acid) from arabinoxylan and milled wheat straw. These catalytic properties strongly suggest that X. polymorpha GH78 is a multifunctional enzyme. It is the first fungal enzyme that combines glycosyl hydrolase with esterase activities and may help this soft rot fungus to degrade lignocelluloses.

Extracellular laccase activity and transcript levels of putative laccase genes during removal of the xenoestrogen technical nonylphenol by the aquatic hyphomycete Clavariopsis aquatica.

We investigated the influence of potential laccase inducers with environmental relevance on extracellular laccase activity and removal of the xenoestrogen technical nonylphenol (tNP) by the aquatic hyphomycete Clavariopsis aquatica. Concomitantly, we identified two putative laccase gene fragments (Icc1 and Icc2) and have followed their expression during removal of tNP under different conditions. Our results indicate a significant effect of copper on extracellular laccase activity in supernatants of fungal cultures. Laccase activity was highest in the presence of copper when added together with vanillic acid, followed by copper when used alone. Only slight laccase activities were recorded in the presence of only vanillic acid, whereas in the absence of either compound laccase activities were negligible. Laccase activity was well correlated with the removal efficiency of tNP, indicating the involvement of laccase in tNP bioconversion. Overall, Icc2 was less expressed than Icc1. The expression of Icc1 and Icc2 correlated only partially with the measured laccase activity, suggesting the existence of cell-associated laccase fractions not detectable in fungal culture supernatants and/or the existence of additional laccase genes.

Discovering Protein-Coding Genes from the Environment: Time for the Eukaryotes?

Eukaryotic microorganisms from diverse environments encompass a large number of taxa, many of them still unknown to science. One strategy to mine these organisms for genes of biotechnological relevance is to use a pool of eukaryotic mRNA directly extracted from environmental samples. Recent reports demonstrate that the resulting metatranscriptomic cDNA libraries can be screened by expression in yeast for a wide range of genes and functions from many of the different eukaryotic taxa. In combination with novel emerging high-throughput technologies, we anticipate that this approach should contribute to exploring the functional diversity of the eukaryotic microbiota.

Increasing N deposition impacts neither diversity nor functions of deadwood-inhabiting fungal communities, but adaptation and functional redundancy ensure ecosystem function: N deposition in highly N-limited habitat

Nitrogen deposition can strongly affect biodiversity, but its specific effects on terrestrial microbial communities and their roles for ecosystem functions and processes are still unclear. Here, we investigated the impacts of N deposition on wood-inhabiting fungi (WIF) and their related ecological functions and processes in a highly N-limited deadwood habitat. Based on high-throughput sequencing, enzymatic activity assay and measurements of wood decomposition rates, we show that N addition has no significant effect on the overall WIF community composition or on related ecosystem functions and processes in this habitat. Nevertheless, we detected several switches in presence/absence (gain/loss) of wood-inhabiting fungal OTUs due to the effect of N addition. The responses of WIF differed from previous studies carried out with fungi living in soil and leaf-litter, which represent less N-limited fungal habitats. Our results suggest that adaptation at different levels of organization and functional redundancy may explain this buffered response and the resistant microbial-mediated ecosystem function and processes against N deposition in highly N-limited habitats.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Wood-Degrading Ascomycete Kretzschmaria deusta DSM 104547

ABSTRACT We report here the draft genome of Kretzschmaria (Ustulina) deusta, an ascomycetous fungus that colonizes and substantially degrades hardwood and can infest living broad-leaved trees. The genome was assembled into 858 contigs, with a total size of 46.5 Mb, and 11,074 protein-coding genes were predicted.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Chloroperoxidase-Producing Fungus Caldariomyces fumago Woronichin DSM1256

ABSTRACT We report here the draft genome sequence of the chloroperoxidase (EC 1.11.1.10)-producing ascomycete Caldariomyces fumago. Its genome was assembled into 511 contigs with a total size of 25 Mb. The G+C content is 51.4%, and 9,806 putative protein-coding genes were predicted. Eight heme-thiolate peroxidase genes, including two chloroperoxidase genes, were found.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Sordariomycete Lecythophora (Coniochaeta) hoffmannii CBS 245.38

ABSTRACT Lecythophora (Coniochaeta) hoffmannii, a soil- and lignocellulose-inhabiting sordariomycete (Ascomycota) that can also live as a facultative tree pathogen causing soft rot, belongs to the family Coniochaetaceae. The strain CBS 245.38 sequenced here was assembled into 869 contigs, has a size of 30.8 Mb, and comprises 10,596 predicted protein-coding genes.

Determinants of deadwood-inhabiting fungal communities in temperate forests: molecular evidence from a large scale deadwood decomposition experiment

Despite the important role of wood-inhabiting fungi (WIF) in deadwood decomposition, our knowledge of the factors shaping the dynamics of their species richness and community composition is scarce. This is due to limitations regarding the resolution of classical methods used for characterizing WIF communities and to a lack of well-replicated long-term experiments with sufficient numbers of tree species. Here, we used a large scale experiment with logs of 11 tree species at an early stage of decomposition, distributed across three regions of Germany, to identify the factors shaping WIF community composition and Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) richness using next generation sequencing. We found that tree species identity was the most significant factor, corresponding to (P < 0.001) and explaining 10% (representing 48% of the explainable variance) of the overall WIF community composition. The next important group of variables were wood-physicochemical properties, of which wood pH was the only factor that consistently corresponded to WIF community composition. For overall WIF richness patterns, we found that approximately 20% of the total variance was explained by wood N content, location, tree species identity and wood density. It is noteworthy that the importance of determinants of WIF community composition and richness appeared to depend greatly on tree species group (broadleaved vs. coniferous) and it differed between the fungal phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.