Polynesian Island yields 'treasure trove' of fungal biodiversity
Date:
March 31, 2022
Source:
University of California - Berkeley
Summary:
Researchers have provided a detailed description of the stunning
array of fungi that make their home on the Polynesian island
of Mo'orea. The collection includes more than 200 species of
macrofungi -- that is, fungi producing visible, fruiting bodies --
many of which may be new to science.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The islands of the South Pacific are a hot spot for biodiversity, but
their jagged peaks, hot and humid conditions, and remote locations have
limited scientists' ability to document the many fantastic forms of life
in the region.
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In a new study published this week in the Journal of Biogeography,
researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, provide the
first detailed description of the stunning array of fungi that make
their home on the Polynesian island of Mo'orea. The collection includes
more than 200 species of macrofungi -- that is, fungi producing visible, fruiting bodies -- many of which may be new to science.
"It's like a treasure trove," said study lead author Matteo Garbelotto, cooperative extension specialist and adjunct professor of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley. "It's truly uncharted
territory in evolutionary biology and biodiversity of the fungal kingdom,
and this is one the first attempts to generate baseline information
on fungal diversity,not just for Mo'orea, but for the entire and vast
Insular Oceania region." As part of the Mo'orea Biocode Project, the
study team spent months trekking across the island in search of new
species of fungi, ultimately gathering a total of 553 fungal specimens
and sequencing the DNA of 433 of them. Because only a handful of the
sequenced specimens have exact genetic matches with other known species,
the Mo'orea collections are likely to contain completely new species.
By comparing the DNA sequences of these fungi to those of other species
around the world, the team was also able to piece together where
the fungal biodiversity on the remote island may have originated. The
findings suggest that the majority of the species, or their ancestors,
were carried by easterly winds from Australia or other South Pacific
islands, though a small number may have been brought to Mo'orea by humans
from far-flung locations like East Asia, Europe and South America.
"We were really interested in the biodiversity of the island," said study
first author Todd Osmundson, who completed the work as a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley. "Mo'orea is an island in the middle of the
ocean, and it's a geologically young volcanic island. It's never touched another piece of land.
How did fungi get there, and where did they come from?" Understanding
both the biodiversity of fungi on the island and how different species
have traveled around the world to arrive at this remote location can
help as scientists grapple with the ongoing impacts of global travel
and trade on biodiversity.
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"The Mo'orea BioCode project was the first all-taxa-survey of a tropical
island to include DNA vouchers and other associated information. It
included all organisms from marine and terrestrial habitats and
everything larger than bacteria," said George Roderick, William Muriece
Hoskins Professor of environmental science, policy and management at
UC Berkeley. "Since, the data has proven to be enormously valuable in monitoring the impacts of global change on Mo'orea but also on other
tropical Pacific Islands." 'Every day we had a different challenge'
The Mo'orea Biocode Project was led by Neil Davies, executive director
of UC Berkeley's Gump South Pacific Research Station, and ran from 2007
to 2010. One of the motivations for the project was to create a model
ecosystem that could be used to answer fundamental questions about how ecosystems work.
"Fungi are really important parts of ecosystems," said Osmundson, who is currently a professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
"They act as primary decomposers, and in some cases (as) pathogens
that break down decaying organic matter and recycle the nutrients into
forms that other organisms can use. They're also really important as
symbionts. They live with other organisms and benefit that organism
in exchange for other things. For instance, some fungi will attach to
the roots of plants and exchange nutrients with them." To collect
the specimens, the research team spent months on Mo'orea, beginning
before dawn each day to gather samples of fungi from all corners of the ecosystem, including the soil, the roots and leaves of plants, and even
the air.
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As the heat and humidity rose throughout the day, the outdoor conditions
would often become inhospitable to both the scientists and the delicate fruiting bodies of the fungi they had collected. By early afternoon,
they would take their samples back to the lab and begin the process of documenting and culturing the specimens they had found, often staying
up late into the night to complete their work.
"The terrain on the island is incredibly steep, and when it rains
it becomes incredibly muddy, and a lot of areas are not managed. So,
every day we had a different challenge," Garbelotto said. "There are
some slopes that you can only really explore on ropes. I remember being attached to a rope with my hands sticking out on the precipice, trying
to collect a mushroom that was growing on a little outcrop where you
couldn't possibly walk." Each of the specimens was photographed and
dried for storage in the University Herbarium and compared to databases
of known species. As part of the biocode project, the research team also obtained DNA sequences of a specific gene that can be used as a unique "barcode" to differentiate one species from another.
"In many ways, Mo'orea is not a pristine island, and that actually makes
it more interesting to me," Garbelotto said. "The island has completely pristine areas and also has areas that have been inhabited and deeply
changed by humans, starting with the arrival of Polynesians 3,000
years ago and continuing until relatively recently with the arrival of
the French, the English and the Americans. Compared to places that are completely pristine, Mo'orea is more interesting to me because it's more representative of what the world actually is." Additional co-authors of
the paper are Sarah E. Bergemann of Middle Tennessee State University
and Rikke Rasmussen, who worked on DNA sequencing as a volunteer at UC Berkeley. The Moorea Biocode Project was supported by the Gordon and
Betty Moore Foundation.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Berkeley. Original written by Kara Manke. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Fairy_inkcaps,_netted_stinkhorns_and_more ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Todd W. Osmundson, Sarah E. Bergemann, Rikke Rasmussen, Matteo M.
Garbelotto. Using point data to assess biogeographical signal,
endemicity and factors associated with macrofungal diversity in
the data‐poor Pacific oceanic island bioregion. Journal of
Biogeography, 2022; DOI: 10.1111/jbi.14354 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220331170812.htm
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