Ross A Joseph, Kamaldeep Bansal, Jane Nguyen, Michael Bielanski, Esther Tirmizi, Abolfazl Masoudi, Nemat O Keyhani
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ambrosia beetles bore into trees, excavating galleries where they farm fungi as their sole source of nutrition. These mutualistic fungi typically do not cause significant damage to host trees; however, since their invasion into the U.S., the beetle Xyleborus glabratus has vectored its fungal partner, Harringtonia lauricola, which has acted as a devastating plant pathogen resulting in the deaths of over 500 million trees. Here, we show differences in the mycangial colonization of the indigenous X. affinis ambrosia beetle by H. lauricola, and the native fungal species, H. aguacate and Raffaelea arxii. While X. affinis was a good host for H. lauricola, the related ambrosia beetle, X. ferrugineus, was only marginally colonized by H. lauricola. X. affinis beetles neither fed on, nor were colonized by, the distantly related fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. Mycangial colonization was affected by the nutritional state of the fungus. A novel method for direct quantification of mycangial contents based on image cell cytometry was developed and validated. The method was used to confirm mycangial colonization and demonstrate alternating fungal partner switching, which showed significant variation and dynamic turnover. X. affinis pre-oral mycangial pouches were visualized using fluorescent and light microscopy, revealing that newly emerged pupae displayed uncolonized mycangia prior to feeding, whereas beetles fed H. lauricola contained single-celled fungi within 6 h post-feeding. Mixed populations of fungal cells were seen in the mycangia of beetles following alternating colonization. Nuclear counter-staining revealed insect cells surrounding the mycangia. These data highlight variation and specificity in ambrosia beetle-fungal pairings and provide a facile method for direct quantification of mycangial contents.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X) is an international, peer-reviewed scientific open access journal that provides an advanced forum for studies related to pathogenic fungi, fungal biology, and all other aspects of fungal research. The journal publishes reviews, regular research papers, and communications in quarterly issues. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on paper length. Full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced.