title: Networks Depicting the Fine-Scale Co-Occurrences of Fungi in Soil Horizons.
abstract: Fungi in soil play pivotal roles in nutrient cycling, pest controls, and plant community succession in terrestrial ecosystems. Despite the ecosystem functions provided by soil fungi, our knowledge of the assembly processes of belowground fungi has been limited. In particular, we still have limited knowledge of how diverse functional groups of fungi interact with each other in facilitative and competitive ways in soil. Based on the high-throughput sequencing data of fungi in a cool-temperate forest in northern Japan, we analyzed how taxonomically and functionally diverse fungi showed correlated fine-scale distributions in soil. By uncovering pairs of fungi that frequently co-occurred in the same soil samples, networks depicting fine-scale co-occurrences of fungi were inferred at the O (organic matter) and A (surface soil) horizons. The results then led to the working hypothesis that mycorrhizal, endophytic, saprotrophic, and pathogenic fungi could form compartmentalized (modular) networks of facilitative, antagonistic, and/or competitive interactions in belowground ecosystems. Overall, this study provides a research basis for further understanding how interspecific interactions, along with sharing of niches among fungi, drive the dynamics of poorly explored biospheres in soil.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toju
authors.affiliation: Tomakomai Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Aza-Takaoka, Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kishida
authors.affiliation: Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 2-chome, Hirano, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.affiliation: Teshio Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Aza-Toikanbetsu 131, Horonobe-cho, Teshio-gun, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D007564:Japan; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000379:methods; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer