title: Chemodiversity and biodiversity of fungi associated with the pine weevil Hylobius abietis.
abstract: The pine weevil Hylobius abietis is a severe pest of conifer seedlings in reforestation areas. Weevils lay eggs in the root bark or in the soil near roots of recently dead trees and cover the eggs with frass (feces combined with chewed bark), possibly to avoid conspecific egg predation. The aim of the present investigation focused on isolation, identification, and volatile production of fungi from pine-weevil feces and frass. Fungi were isolated from weevil frass and feces separately, followed by identification based on ITS sequencing. Fifty-nine isolates belonging to the genera Penicillium, Ophiostoma, Mucor, Leptographium, Eucasphaeria, Rhizosphaera, Debaryomyces, and Candida were identified. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the fungal community and fungal isolates cultured on weevil-frass broth were identified by SPME-GCMS. Major VOCs emitted from the fungal community and pure isolates were species- and strain specific and included isopentylalcohol, styrene, 3-octanone, 6-protoilludene, methyl salicylate, 3-methylanisole, 2-methoxyphenol, and phenol. Some of these are known to influence the orientation of pine weevils when tested among highly attractive newly planted conifer seedlings.
authors.affiliation: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Ecological Chemistry Group, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Chemistry, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azeem
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, P.O. Box, 7044, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: olle.terenius@slu.se.
authors.forename: Olle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Terenius
authors.affiliation: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Biotechnology, Division of Environmental Microbiology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gunaratna Kuttuva
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Rajarao
authors.affiliation: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Ecological Chemistry Group, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden; Sojo University, Faculty of Biotechnology and Life Science, Department of Applied Microbial Technology, 4-22-1 Ikeda, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagahama
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, P.O. Box, 7044, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nordenhem
authors.affiliation: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, P.O. Box, 7044, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nordlander
authors.affiliation: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Ecological Chemistry Group, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden; Tartu University, Institute of Technology, Division of Organic Chemistry, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Anna-Karin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Borg-Karlson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D048889:Weevils / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Candida sequanensis; Debaryomyces; Fungal community; Methyl salicylate; Ophiostoma; Penicillium