Can the fungicide penconazole alter the community composition of the aquatic mycobiome on Alnus glutinosa leaf litter?

Abstract

Excerpt of an upcoming publication. Abstract: Aquatic fungi (AF) play a key role in the turnover of organic matter in freshwater ecosystems, such as leaf litter in streams. Fungicides that reach streams via spray drift or surface runoff from agricultural activities may endanger the diversity of AF. In the present proof-of-principle study, we used high throughput sequencing (HTS) of total DNA to investigate composition changes of a natural leaf litter associated aquatic mycobiome in stream channels and in flask microcosms that were treated with 250 (micro)g/L of the azole fungicide penconazole. Treated samples were compared with control samples from untreated systems and samples from the reference stream over a period of three weeks. The community composition (in terms of presence/absence) in fungicide treated and control samples was comparable on leaves, which were conditioned for two weeks in the reference stream prior to fungicide exposure. Here, only the read numbers of two key taxa indicated an abundance shift that was most likely related to the fungicide effect. However, strong diversity effects were observed during the following long-term recolonization (85d) of sterilized leaves under penconazole influence (starting with 160 (micro)g/L a. s.), in which key taxa were significantly reduced in their presence or even absent in fungicide treated stream channels. Results imply, that HTS of total DNA seems to be particularly effective to detect changes in AF communities during the colonization of leaf litter. Future effect studies could consider recolonization under different conditions and RNA sequencing of preconditioned leaves to corroborate the findings of the present study. Quelle: https://www.researchgate.net/