Rocks support a distinctive and consistent mycobiome across contrasting dry regions of Earth

• Published in: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
• Main Authors: Coleine, Claudia, Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel, Albanese, Davide, Singh, Brajesh K., Stajich, Jason E., Selbmann, Laura, Egidi, E.
• Other Authors: Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide, Australian Research Council, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Junta de Andalucía
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2022
• Subjects: Drylands; Extremophiles; Environmental factors; Climate change; Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Italian National Antarctic Research Program; National Antarctic Research Program
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/266576; https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiac030; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000923; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011011

10 páginas.- 4 figuras.- referencias.- Supplementary data are available at FEMSEC online.- All metadata, datasets and statistical analysis results are available at Figshare (https://figshare.com/s/bcdf2633d9872a7eb8ca). All other relevant data are available upon request. Rock-dwelling fungi play critical ecological roles in drylands, including soil formation and nutrient cycling; however, we know very little about the identity, function and environmental preferences of these important organisms, and the mere existence of a consistent rock mycobiome across diverse arid regions of the planet remains undetermined. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of rock fungi and spatially associated soil communities, surveyed across 28 unique sites spanning four major biogeographic regions (North America, Arctic, Maritime and Continental Antarctica) including contrasting climates, from cold and hot deserts to semiarid drylands. We show that rocks support a consistent and unique mycobiome that was different from that found in surrounding soils. Lichenized fungi from class Lecanoromycetes were consistently indicative of rocks across contrasting regions, together with ascomycetous representatives of black fungi in Arthoniomycetes, Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes. In addition, compared with soil, rocks had a lower proportion of saprobes and plant symbiotic fungi. The main drivers structuring rock fungi distribution were spatial distance and, to a larger extent, climatic factors regulating moisture and temperature (i.e. mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation), suggesting that these paramount and unique communities might be particularly sensitive to increases in temperature and desertification. CC and LS acknowledge funding from the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). CC was supported by a PNRA postdoctoral fellowship. JES is a CIFAR fellow in the Fungal Kingdom: Threats and Opportunities program. EE was supported by an Australian Research Council DECRA (Discovery Early ...