title: An in situ inventory of fungi and their associated migrating bacteria in forest soils using fungal highway columns.
abstract: Soils are complex ecosystems in which fungi and bacteria co-exist and interact. Fungal highways are a kind of interaction by which bacteria use fungal hyphae to disperse in soils. Despite the fact that fungal highways have been studied in laboratory models, the diversity of fungi and bacteria interacting in this way in soils is still unknown. Fungal highway columns containing two different culture media were used as a selective method to study the identity of fungi and bacteria able to migrate along the hyphae in three forest soils. Regardless of the soil type, fungi of the genus Mortierella (phylum Zygomycota) were selected inside the columns. In contrast, a diverse community of bacteria dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria was observed. The results confirm the importance of bacteria affiliated to Burkholderia as potentially associated migrating bacteria in soils and indicate that other groups such as Bacillus and Clostridium are also highly enriched in the co-colonization of a new habitat (columns) associated to Mortierella. The diversity of potentially associated migrating bacteria brings a novel perspective on the indirect metabolic capabilities that could be favored by r-strategist fungi and supports the fact that these fungi should be considered as crucial actors in soil functioning.
authors: Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors: Anaele
authors: A
authors: Simon
authors: Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.|Biogeosciences laboratory, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Vincent
authors: V
authors: Hervé
authors: Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors: Andrej
authors: A
authors: Al-Dourobi
authors: Biogeosciences laboratory, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Verrecchia
authors: Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland pilar.junier@unine.ch.
authors: Pilar
authors: P
authors: Junier
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D005658:Fungi / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D025301:Hyphae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D012988:Soil Microbiology
keywords: Burkholderiales; Firmicutes; Mortierella; Proteobacteria; bacteria; fungi