| Abstract Detail
Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions Tanney, Joey Brent [1]. Beyond the needle: Species-level identification of Picea endophytes in Eastern Canada. Research interest in endophytic fungi has increased substantially, yet is the current research paradigm capable of addressing fundamental taxonomic questions? More than half of the ca. 30,000 endophyte sequences accessioned into GenBank are unidentified to the family level and this disparity grows every year. A study of Picea and Pinus endophytes in Northeastern Canada seeks to ameliorate these taxonomic issues using a combined approach involving molecular methods, traditional taxonomy, and field work. Surface-sterilized needles resulted in ca. 3,000 axenic endophyte cultures that where primarily sterile. Cultures were characterized using the ITS barcode and groups or individual species were selected for further investigation. The most abundant endophytes included Lophodermium cf. piceae, Diaporthe sp. nov., Xylaria sp. nov., and Rhizosphaera spp. Concentrated field work provided connections between field specimens and endophyte cultures, verified using additional loci, which facilitated the description of novel species. Results include the first discovery of Phialocephala sexual states, connections between endophytes and their saprotrophic life stages, and the detection of cryptic N. American Rhytismatales spp. Looking beyond the needle provides significant ecological and biological information and facilitates species-level identification of endophytes.
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1 - Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food , Biodiversity (Mycology & Botany), 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada
Keywords:
Endophytes
Picea
Mollisia
Phialocephala
Rhytismatales.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 36
Location: Salon 5/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2015
Time: 11:00 AM
Number: 36012
Abstract ID:496
Candidate for Awards:None |
