Phenotype MicroArray™ system in the study of fungal functional diversity and catabolic versatility.
Fungi cover a range of important ecological functions associated with nutrient and carbon cycling in leaf litter and soil. As a result, research on existing relationships between fungal functional diversity, decomposition rates and competition is of key interest. Indeed, availability of nutrients in soil is largely the consequence of organic matter degradation dynamics. The Biolog®Phenotype MicroArrays™ (PM) system allows for the testing of fungi against many different carbon sources at any one time. The use and potential of the PM system as a tool for studying niche overlap and catabolic versatility of saprotrophic fungi is discussed here, and examples of its application are provided.
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184 Rome, Italy; Natural History Museum, Life Sciences Department, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. Electronic address: flavia.pinzari@crea.gov.it.
Flavia
F
Pinzari
Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: andrea.ceci@uniroma1.it.
Andrea
A
Ceci
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: n.f.abusamra@gmail.com.
Nadir
N
Abu-Samra
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l'Analisi dell'Economia agraria, Centro di Ricerca per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: loredana.canfora@crea.gov.it.
Loredana
L
Canfora
Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: oriana.maggi@uniroma1.it.
Oriana
O
Maggi
Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro, 00185 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: annamaria.persiani@uniroma1.it.
Annamaria
A
Persiani
D005658:Fungi / Q000378:metabolism*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D010641:Phenotype
Functional diversity; Fungal ecology; Fungi; Phenotype MicroArray™; Substrate utilisation