Networks of fungal interactions in the neotropics

• Grant number: 21/14381-2
• Support Opportunities: Organization Grants - BIOTA-FAPESP Program
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Agreement: French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB)
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Grantee: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although fungi have received little attention compared to other organisms, taxonomists and ecologists have managed to reveal fungal diversity in the Neotropics. A key finding concerns the apparent low diversity of certain guilds, such as the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, compared to temperate forests. A number of hypotheses attribute such low diversity of ECM - and lower density of fruiting-bodies - to the rarity of their host trees and the general lack of mono-dominant forests. Our consortium will conduct a large-scale meta-analysis of ITS sequences produced from soil sequencing to investigate the distribution and interactions of ECM fungi, using a recent ECM database as a reference -, to explore the above and new hypotheses concerning the low ECM diversity in the Neotropics. Specifically, we hypothesize that pathogens exclude ECM fungi locally and contribute to shape their unique pattern of distribution in Neotropical soils. To test this hypothesis, we will use recent high-throughput sequencing of soil samples to identify microorganisms interacting with ECM fungi. Thanks to data collected throughout the Neotropics, we will also test if this purported antagonistic interaction occurs only in Neotripical lowlands and outside mono-dominant forests. A synthesis project will allow addressing big questions on fungal and ECM fungi distribution and ecology in the Neotropics and producing a large-scale study of their interactions. Bringing together fungal taxonomists, community and network ecologists, and eDNA specialists will allow us to advance knowledge on a group of fungi understudied in the Neotropics but also on potential fungal networks, arguably essential to many trees and habitats. (AU)