Mycobiome sequencing and analysis of the assemblages of fungi associated with leaf litter on the Fernow Experimental Forest in the Central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia

Mycobiome sequencing and analysis of the assemblages of fungi associated with leaf litter on the Fernow Experimental Forest in the Central Appalachian Mountains of West Current Research Abstract High-throughput sequencing techniques have become widely used for identification, analyses of community composition, and functional significance of fungi in forest ecosystems. Because many fungi cannot be cultured, seldom produce visible sexual structures, and are often overlooked, the use of such techniques is especially appropriate. In the study reported herein, DNA-metabarcoding techniques were applied to samples of forest floor leaf litter collected from a temperate deciduous forest to explore the hidden diversity of fungi and to compare distinct assemblages of leaf litter-associated fungi. The samples were collected from the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) in the central Appalachian Mountains of eastern central West Virginia. The datasets of metataxonomic sequences were obtained from samples of leaf litter collected from 10 plots. These revealed high OTU abundance and richness estimates linked to five fungal phyla, at least 85 orders, and 24 classes in addition to numerous unidentified fungi. The majority of unknown fungi could be assigned only to the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Based on horizontal diversity indices, Shannon’s diversity indices, and evenness values, the highest diversity and evenness values of the assemblages investigated appeared to be most closely related to species of ascomycetes. Morphologically, the fungi contributing to species richness were microscopic species of ascomycetes and macroscopic basidiomycetes. Functionally, the deep sequencing revealed varied and overlapping functional guilds for filamentous fungi in which saprotrophs independently were dominant and contributed mostly to bifunctional and multifunctional guilds. The presented data provides an insight into the diversity of fungi morphology, taxonomically, functionally, and compositionally for the leaf litter microhabitats, setting the stage for forest management decisions and future fungal research.