Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2019
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613451802640384 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | De Beer, Z. Wilhelm |
| author_browse | De Beer, Z. Wilhelm |
| author_facet | De Beer, Z. Wilhelm |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 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 | Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/69059 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:36:21.928Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/69059 The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment De Beer, Z. Wilhelm zander.human@gmail.com Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas) Wingfield, Michael J. Human, Zander Rainier UCTD Microbial Ecology Plant Microbiome Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. The infructescences of serotinous Protea trees is an unusual and unique fungal niche, well known for its association with specific fungi and their symbiotic mites. However, except for a single study on Streptomyces species, little is known about any other microbial groups present in this habitat. In this study, we explored the complete microbial diversity associated with the infructescences of Protea repens. Diverse bacterial communities inhabit the infructescences of P. repens. Differences were noted between bacterial communities in infructescences in areas where the plants were regrowing after it was destroyed by fire. Depending on the age of vegetation after fire, some bacterial taxa were present in both the litter and infructescences. Actinomycete bacteria were previously reported from P. repens and P. neriifolia infructescences. In this study, we found two different Streptomyces species consistently present in newly-formed and mature infructescences. In a fire-affected site, actinomycetes rarely colonized infructescences, whereas in an unburnt site, the majority of infructescences were colonized by actinomycetes. However, within three months after infructescences had formed, a much larger proportion of infructescences in the burnt site were colonized by these bacteria. Sporothrix splendens was the most common fungal OTU in the burnt site, but there was increased competition with an OTU identified as a Clavulina sp. in the unburnt site. Although Knoxdaviesia proteae was present in all infructescences examined, it did not have a high relative abundance as was expected. This may be due to biases in PCR, library preparation and sequencing, or it may be that the fungus may simply have been consumed by arthropods as was previously suggested. An attempt was made to identify bacteria present in close proximity to fungal structures in P. repens infructescences. The bacterial communities in P. repens infructescences seemed to be randomly assembled and no consistent bacterial associates of the fungi could be identified. However, it was clear that the presence of the fungi resulted in higher bacterial species richness in the immediate surroundings of the fungi. The fungal communities present in P. repens infructescences were similar in composition to bacterial communities of decomposing deadwood and plant litter suggesting that it provides a similar niche as deadwood- and litter, and is possibly a reservoir for decomposer and soil associated fungi in these fire-prone ecosystems. National Research Foundation (NRF) DST-NRF Centre for Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB) Tree Protection Cooperative Programme Microbiology and Plant Pathology PhD Unrestricted 2019-05-07T09:27:20Z 2019-05-07T09:27:20Z 2019-09 2018 Thesis Human, ZR 2019, The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria http://hdl.handle.net/2263/69059 en © 2019 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 | UCTD Microbial Ecology Plant Microbiome The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title | The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title_full | The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title_fullStr | The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title_short | The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| title_sort | microbial ecology of protea repens proteaceae infructescences and the surrounding environment |
| topic | UCTD Microbial Ecology Plant Microbiome |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/69059 |