Watkinson, Sarah C., Boddy, Lynne, Burton, Kerry S., Darrah, P. R., Eastwood, Daniel C., Fricker, Mark D. and Tlalka, Monika. (2005) New approaches to investigating the function of mycelial networks. Mycologist, Vol.19 (No.1). pp. 11-17. ISSN 0269-915X

Preview

PDF WRAP_Burton_Mycelial_networks.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (683Kb)

Abstract

Fungi play a key role in ecosystem nutrient cycles by scavenging, concentrating, translocating and redistributing nitrogen. To quantify and predict fungal nitrogen redistribution, and assess the importance of the integrity of fungal networks in soil for ecosystem function, we need better understanding of the structures and processes involved. Until recently nitrogen translocation has been experimentally intractable owing to the lack of a suitable radioisotope tracer for nitrogen, and the impossibility of observing nitrogen translocation in real time under realistic conditions. We have developed an imaging method for recording the magnitude and direction of amino acid flow through the whole mycelial network as it captures, assimilates and channels its carbon and nitrogen resources, while growing in realistically heterogeneous soil microcosms. Computer analysis and modeling, based on these digitized video records, can reveal patterns in transport that suggest experimentally testable hypotheses. Experimental approaches that we are developing include genomics and stable isotope NMR to investigate where in the system nitrogen compounds are being acquired and stored, and where they are mobilized for transport or broken down. The results are elucidating the interplay between environment, metabolism, and the development and function of transport networks as mycelium forages in soil. The highly adapted and selected foraging networks of fungi may illuminate fundamental principles applicable to other supply networks.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QK Botany S Agriculture > SB Plant culture
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) > Warwick HRI (2004-2010)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Mycelium, Fungi -- Hyphae, Biotic communities, Nitrogen cycle, Plants -- Nutrients
Journal or Publication Title:	Mycologist
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0269-915X
Date:	February 2005
Volume:	Vol.19
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 11-17
Identification Number:	10.1017/S0269915X05001023
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Royal Society (Great Britain), Natural Environment Research Council (Great Britain) (NERC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC), British Mycological Society (BMS), University of Oxford
References:	Ashford, A.E., Cole, L. & Hyde, G.J. (2001). Motile tubular vacuole systems. In The Mycota VIII: Biology of the Fungal Cell, eds. R.J. Howard & N.A.R. Gow Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Bääth, E. & Söderström, B (1979). Fungal biomass and fungal immobilisation of of plant nutrients in Swedish coniferous forest soils. Revue d’Écologie et de Biologie du Sol 16: 477-489. Bago, B., Pfeffer, P. & Shachar-Hill, Y (2001). Could the urea cycle be translocating nitrogen in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis? New Phytologist 149: 4-8. Boddy, L. (1999) Saprotrophic cord-forming fungi: meeting the challenge of heterogeneous environments. Mycologia 91: 13 - 32 Boddy, L. & Watkinson, S.C. (1995). Wood decomposition, higher fungi and their role in nutrient redistribution. Canadian Journal of Botany 73: S1377-S1383. Boddy, L., Wells, J.M., Culshaw, C. & Donnelly, D.P. (1998). Fractal analysis in studies of mycelium in soil. Geoderma 88: 301-328. Breeze, E., Wagstaff,C., Harrison, E., Bramke, I., Rogers, H., Stead, A., Thomas, B. & Buchanan-Wollaston, V. (2004). Gene expression patterns to define stages of post-harvest senescence in Alstroemeria petals. Plant Biotechnology Journal 2, 155-168. Cairney, J.W.G. (1992) Translocation of solutes in ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic rhizomorphs. Mycological Research 96: 135-141. Dighton, J. (1997). Nutrient cycling by saprotrophic fungi in terrestrial habitats. In: Environmental and Microbial Relationships eds. D.T. Wicklow & B.E. Soderstrom. The Mycota VI pp.271-279. Eastwood, D. C., Kingsnorth, C. S., Jones, H. E. & Burton, K. S. (2001). Genes with increased transcript levels following harvest of the sporophore of Agaricus bisporus have multiple physiological roles. Mycological Research 105: 1223-1230. Frey, E. T. Elliott, K. Paustian & G. A. Peterson (2000) Fungal translocation as a mechanism for soil nitrogen inputs to surface residue decomposition in a no-tillage agroecosystem, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32: 689-698 Griffin, D.H. (1994). Fungal Physiology, 2nd edn. Wiley-Liss, New York. Jennings, D.H. (1987). The translocation of solutes in fungi. Biological Reviews 62: 215-143. Klionsky, D.T., Herman, P.K. & Ek, H. (1990). The fungal vacuole: composition and biogenesis. Microbioogical Reviews 54: 226-292. Markkola, A. M., Ohtonen, R., Tarvaien, O. & Ahonen- Jonnnarth, U. (1995). Estimates of fungal biomass in Scots Pine stands on an urban pollution gradient. New Phytologist 131: 139-147. Marzluf, G.A. (1996). Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in mycelial fungi. In: R. Brambl & G. A. Marzluf, eds. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The Mycota eds. Esser K. & Lemke P.A. III: 357-368. Miller, R. M. & Lodge, D. J. (1997). Fungal responses to disturbance: Agriculture and Forestry. In: D. T Wicklow & B. Soderstrom, eds. Environmental and Microbial Relationships. The Mycota VI, 65-84. Read, D. (1997). The ties that bind. Nature 388, 517-518. Sen, R. (2000). Budgeting for the wood-wide web. New Phytologist 145: 161-163. Swift, M. & Anderson, J. (1996). Biodiversity and ecosystem function in agricultural systems. In E.D. Schulze, & H.A. Mooney, eds: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function. Springer. Thompson, W. (1984). Distribution, development and functioning of decomposer basidiomycetes of the deciduous woodland floor. In D.H. Jennings & A.D.M. Rayner eds. The Ecology and Physiology of the Fungal Mycelium. Cambridge University Press. Tlalka, M., Watkinson, S. C., Darrah, P. R. & Fricker, M. D. (2002) Continuous imaging of amino acid translocation in intact mycelia of Phanerochaete velutina reveals rapid, pulsatile fluxes. New Phytologist 153: 173-184. Tlalka, M., Hensman, D., Darrah, P. R., Watkinson, S. C. & Fricker, M. D. (2003). Noncircadian oscillations in amino acid transport have complementary profiles in assimilatory and foraging hyphae of Phanerochaete velutina. New Phytologist 158: 325-335. Venables, C. E. & Watkinson, S. C. (1989). Medium-induced changes in patterns of free and combined amino acids in mycelium of Serpula lacrymans. Journal of General Microbiology 135: 1369-1374. Watkinson, S.C. (1984). The inhibition of growth and development of Serpula lacrymans by the non-metabolised amino acid analogue 2-aminoisobutyric acid. FEMS Microbiology Letters 24: 247-250. Watkinson, S. C. (1999). Metabolism and hyphal differentiation in large basidiomycete colonies. In The Fungal Colony, eds N. A. R. Gow & G. M. Gadd, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Watkinson, S. C., Davison, E. M. & Bramah, J. (1981). The effect of nitrogen availability on growth and cellulolysis by Serpula lacrymans. New Phytologist 89: 295-305.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/745

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item