Wright, C.A., C.A. Reddy, and E.A. Paul
Presented at the All Scientist Meeting (1999-07-20 to 1999-07-21 )
Soil fungi represent the richest species diversity and largest total biomass of all soil microbiota. One subgroup, the basidiomycetes, produce enzymes involved in the degradation of lignin and humics and are responsible for the majority of the degradation of lignocellulose plant residues and soil organic matter. Very little is known about their phylogenetic diversity and how this diversity affects ecosystem function.We have studied the occurance of soil basidiomycetes and the diversity of their lignin degrading capabilities on three levels: 1) The occurance of sporocarps as a measure of species richness; 2) The isolation of unique soil basidiomycetes as a measure of species richness with concurrent analysis of the lignin modifying enzymes they produce and; 3) the isolation of basidiomycete DNA from total soil community DNA with the subsequent analyses for both species richness (using 25S rDNA) and the encodement of lignin modifying genes.The first level of our study has resulted in the following basidiomycete species list for KBS:Note that when there are repeats (such as Mycena species) each species is unique.The second level of our study has revealed that as we go from a no-till to a tilled treatment, species richness decreases with a concurrent increase in the occurrence and distribution of lignin modifying enzymes. As we go from a treatment with a lower diversity of plant material inputs (mainly lower heterogeneity) to a treatment with a higher diversity of plant material we see both higher species richness and occurrence of lignin modifying enzymes.The third level of our study is currently underway. Results are too preliminary to make any firm conclusions at this time.
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