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The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2014
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author2 Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas)
author_browse Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas)
author_facet Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:22.997Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/33154 The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas) zander.human@fabi.up.ac.za Wingfield, Michael J. Slippers, Bernard De Beer, Z. Wilhelm Human, Zander Rainier Ophiostomatoid fungi Saprophytic fungi Species UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. Ophiostomatoid fungi have been observed to be present and even common in specific niches from which other saprophytic fungi are rarely isolated. The galleries of several bark beetle species are representative of such a niche and have been subject to a number of studies. The infructescences of Protea spp. are another niche dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi. In both examples other saprophytes are very rarely present although it is believed to be a nutrient rich, moist and ideal environment for the growth of many saprophytic species of fungi. During this study I tested a hypothesis that the presence of antibiotic producing actinomycetes is responsible for the absence of other contaminating saprophytes in these environments dominated by the ophiostomatoid fungi. Following this hypothesis, the ophiostomatoid fungi would have some level of tolerance to the compounds produced, similar to fungus growing ants and the southern pine beetle where beneficial fungi have tolerance to antifungal compounds produced. Following a culture-based approach, using selective media, actinomycetes were found to be present on the exoskeleton of O. erosus (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) and in the infructescences of Protea repens and Protea neriifolia. Most of the actinomycetes on the exoskeleton of Orthotomicus erosus had observable in vitro antifungal activity. These did, however also inhibit the growth of the main ophiostomatoid fungal symbiont of O. erosus. In the infructescences of Protea spp. several actinomycetes were isolated. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, these were clustered into five distinct groups. Members of some groups were present in both Protea spp. and had antifungal effects to which ophiostomatoid fungi have tolerance. Subsequently, the most common groups of isolates were further classified using a multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) approach. This analysis showed that our isolates include four potentially novel species. Actinomycetes are present in the galleries of O. erosus but may not be responsible for creating a niche where only ophiostomatoid fungi can grow. This is primarily because of their low frequency of occurrence. However, Streptomyces spp. in Protea spp. infructescences may have some impact on the selectivity of the environment. This is because the compounds they produced were active against saprophyte fungi while the ophiostomatoid fungi had some tolerance. gm2014 Microbiology and Plant Pathology MSc Unrestricted 2014-01-28T14:25:45Z 2014-01-28T14:25:45Z 2013-09-06 2013 Dissertation Human, ZR 2013, The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/33154> E13/9/867/gm http://hdl.handle.net/2263/33154 en © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Ophiostomatoid fungi
Saprophytic fungi
Species
UCTD
The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title_full The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title_fullStr The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title_full_unstemmed The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title_short The diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
title_sort diversity and ecology of actinomycetes associated with environments dominated by ophiostomatoid fungi
topic Ophiostomatoid fungi
Saprophytic fungi
Species
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/33154