* Soil fungi play a major role in ecological and biogeochemical processes in forests. Little is known, however, about the structure and richness of different fungal communities and the distribution of functional ecological groups (pathogens, saprobes and symbionts). * Here, we assessed the fungal diversity in six different forest soils using tag-encoded 454 pyrosequencing of the nuclear ribosom...

In forest ecosystems, fungal mats are functionally important in nutrient and water uptake in litter and wood decomposition processes, in carbon resource allocation, soil weathering and in cycling of soil resources. Fungal mats can occur abundantly in forests and are widely distributed globally. We sampled ponderosa pine/white fir and mountain hemlock/noble fir communities at Crater Lake Nationa...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an ectomycorrhizal fungus (Tuber indicum) on the diversity of microbial communities associated with an indigenous tree, Pinus armandii, and the microbial communities in the surrounding ectomycorhizosphere soil. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the richness of microbial communities in the roots or rhizosphere of treatments with...

Stone pine (Pinus pinea L.), like other conifers, forms ectomycorrhizas (ECM), which have beneficial impact on plant growth in natural environments and forest ecosystems. An in vitro co-culture of stone pine microshoots with pure mycelia of isolated ECM sporocarps was used to overcome the root growth cessation not only in vitro but also to improve root development during acclimation phase. Piso...

In 1887, an American botanist, James, published an article on his fascination with milkweeds in The American Naturalist (James 1887), becoming one of the first in a long line of plant ecologists who seem to be in love with latex— walking around, breaking leaves, rubbing the sticky, sometimes smelly viscous plant exudate between their fingers. And why not love latex? It is often hard to visualiz...

• The ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis was historically considered restricted to the temperate zones, but recent studies have shown the importance of this symbiosis across the tropics. We examined ECM fungal diversity, host plant phylogeny and ECM host preferences in a rainforest dominated by the leguminous host plants Dicymbe corymbosa, Dicymbe altsonii and Aldina insignis. • Ectomycorrhizal fu...

From time immemorial, mushrooms have been valued by humankind as a culinary wonder and folk medicine in Oriental practice. The last decade has witnessed the overwhelming interest of western research fraternity in pharmaceutical potential of mushrooms. The chief medicinal uses of mushrooms discovered so far are as anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, immunom...

There are about 2500 recorded species of edible mushrooms. The most expensive and sought after of these mushrooms belong to the mycorrhizal group and include Tuber melanosporum Vitt. (Périgord black truffle), Tuber magnatum Pico & Vitt. (Italian white truffle), Tricholoma matsutake (Ito & Imai) Sing. (matsutake), Boletus edulis Bull: Fr. sensu lato (porcini) Cantharellus cibarius Fr.: Fr. (chan...

Comparative methods are presented which allow for quick and relatively reliable growth parameter estimates when growth data are not at hand. One of these methods involves the use of a newly developed "au ximetric grid.". An empirical equation for the estimation of natural mortality of any fish stock, given a set of growth parameters, is briefly reviewed. . . The methods are applied to data from...