ArticleThe New phytologist2016
Ectomycorrhizal fungi decompose soil organic matter using oxidative mechanisms adapted from saprotrophic ancestors.
Article in The New phytologist, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers.
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91 citing papers in PubMed, 371 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ectomycorrhizal Cortinariaceae species dominate class II peroxidase gene expression in a boreal forest soil.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- A space-for-time assessment of drought vulnerability for ectomycorrhizal fungi of seasonally dry, old-growth Pseudotsuga menziesii ecosystems.Mycorrhiza · 2026Article
- Stronger legacy-effects of forest fertilization on soil saprotrophic fungi than on ectomycorrhizal fungi in the first decade after clearcutting.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Impact of nitrogen on ectomycorrhizal fungi: from resource exchange to forest carbon cycling.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Review
- Mycorrhizal Type Steers Trait-Function Linkages in Root Nitrogen Uptake Across Subtropical Tree Species.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- Review
- Fungal highways to water: Mechanisms of drought tolerance in arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal symbioses.Mycorrhiza · 2026Review
- Drivers of ectomycorrhizal fungi in a subalpine mixed forest: the roles of host plants and edaphic factors.Mycorrhiza · 2026Article
- Impacts of ectomycorrhizal forest change on nutrient cycling, forest resilience, and ecosystem services.The ISME journal · 2026Review
- Ectomycorrhizal mediation of soil carbon sequestration: from carbon allocation to necromass stabilization and priming effects.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Effects of biodegradable film mulching on yield, grain quality, and soil metabolic characteristics of water-saving and drought-resistant rice.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Phylogenetic analysis of xylan-degrading hemicellulases fromFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Mycorrhiza helper bacteria as stage-specific modulators of fungal development.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- Microbial-inoculated biochar combined with nitrogen mitigates salinity stress in rice by reducing salt accumulation and enhancing soil-plant interactions.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Plasticity of symbiotroph-saprotroph lifestyles of Piloderma croceum associated with Quercus robur L.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Fine-root dynamics in deeper soils: a critical but overlooked component of ecosystem responses to climate warming.The New phytologist · 2025Review
- A trait spectrum linking nitrogen acquisition and carbon use of ectomycorrhizal fungi.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- Unexpected microbial diversity in new Caledonia's ultramafic ecosystems with conservation implications in a biodiversity hotspot.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluating the effectiveness of Pisolithus tinctorius in enhancing the Eucalyptus' resistance to salt stress.AMB Express · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ectomycorrhizal fungi are thought to have a key role in mobilizing organic nitrogen that is trapped in soil organic matter (SOM). However, the extent to which ectomycorrhizal fungi decompose SOM and the mechanism by which they do so remain unclear, considering that they have lost many genes encoding lignocellulose-degrading enzymes that are present in their saprotrophic ancestors. Spectroscopic analyses and transcriptome profiling were used to examine the mechanisms by which five species of ectomycorrhizal fungi, representing at least four origins of symbiosis, decompose SOM extracted from forest soils. In the presence of glucose and when acquiring nitrogen, all species converted the organic matter in the SOM extract using oxidative mechanisms. The transcriptome expressed during oxidative decomposition has diverged over evolutionary time. Each species expressed a different set of transcripts encoding proteins associated with oxidation of lignocellulose by saprotrophic fungi. The decomposition 'toolbox' has diverged through differences in the regulation of orthologous genes, the formation of new genes by gene duplications, and the recruitment of genes from diverse but functionally similar enzyme families. The capacity to oxidize SOM appears to be common among ectomycorrhizal fungi. We propose that the ancestral decay mechanisms used primarily to obtain carbon have been adapted in symbiosis to scavenge nutrients instead.
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