Kira Fischer, Bethany Essary, Sydney Black, Victoria Olson, Lisa BroshearsHeibel

Killer Fungi
Biology 1010

The species Laccaria Bicolor, a common mushroom found in forests,

grows off the roots of trees. The two organisms form a symbiotic relationship,
helping each other survive. The fungi also turn the generally harmless trees
into a unique predator. By paralyzing and slowly eating insects, the Laccaria
is able to transfer energy to the tree it lives on. The funguss classification,
Starting with Domain-Eukaryote, Kingdom-Fungi, Phylum-Basidiomycota,
Class-Agaricomycetes, Order-Agaricales, Family-Hydnangiaceae, GenusLaccaria, and ending with Species- Laccaria Bicolor.
The Laccaria Bicolor gets its energy from other creatures. Most
commonly and significantly Springtails; tiny insects that usually eat fungi .
When they attempt to eat Laccaria Bicolor however, they themselves are
eaten. The fungi use the springtails nitrogen to barter for carbon from the
trees they live on. It is able to do so by producing a toxin, paralyzing the
springtails and allowing the fungi to eat them on their own time. The trees
are able to use the nitrogen, while the Laccaria are able to synthesize the
carbon into proteolytic enzymes.
It was believed that killer fungi, until now, had no sexual cycle and
they were believed to reproduce by asexual spores. But researchers from the
School of Biology at the University of Nottingham and from University
College Dublin have finally been able to induce sexual reproduction in this
potentially lethal pathogen showing, for the first time, that Fumigatus
possesses a fully functional sexual reproductive system.
An article by Jennifer Frazer in Scientific America describes the
relationships between L. Bicolor, Springtails, and the plants the fungi grow
on. While researching the ability of L. Bicolor to allow trees, even different
species, to communicate, they discovered in a feeding dish that less than 5%
of the springtails had survived. The scientists then questioned why the
springtails were dying and how their nitrogen was being used. After finding
live fungi fibers moving around the springtails dead bodies, they
hypothesized that the L. Bicolor were harvesting the springtails. They started
an experiment by dyeing the springtails with a stain that would indicate life.
Many of the springtails were found to be alive but unable to move. The fungi
had released a paralyzing toxin. Scientists then labeled their springtails with

Kira Fischer, Bethany Essary, Sydney Black, Victoria Olson, Lisa BroshearsHeibel
Killer Fungi
Biology 1010

radioactive, traceable nitrogen-15 and put some dead and some alive in a
culture with a fungi infected eastern white pine. For 2 months they made
sure only the fungi had access to the springtails and not the roots. 25% of
the nitrogen in plant tissue came from dead or alive springtails. The plants
with the traceable nitrogen were healthier and weighed more when they
were fertilized by the springtails.
Fungus, animals, and fungus x animal effects for nitrogen in plant
tissue were significant. Springtails in the presence of L. bicolor have a
derivative of 25% plant nitrogen. This leads to the ability to acquire and
transfer nitrogen to the host plant from living or dead animals. The process
was performed efficiently. Plant biomass at the end of the harvest, were
stimulated in the L. bicolor + Springtail treatments. These results were
compared to the results of all the other treatment combined. Animals
extracted at the end, retrieved less than 10% of the initial number of
animals. In conclusion, ectomycorrhizal plants can depredate soil arthropods
indirectly for a significant amount of nitrogen through the fungal partnership .
The results expressed a flexible and efficient nitrogen cycle that was not
previously predicted. For the host to synthesize proteolytic enzymes, it must
supply the fungi with carbon.
The authors determined that the trees had unconsciously become
predators through the fungi that grew off them and provided such a
significant source of their nitrogen. Ectomycorrihizal plants can indirectly
ransack soil arthropods for a significant source of nitrogen through their
fungal partners and may have created a more efficient and flexible nitrogen
cycle than previously known. Frazers paper shows how something seemingly
innocent, such as a common and edible mushroom, can be an unexpected
predator.
Sources:
Frazer, Jennifer. Root Fungi Can Turn Pine Trees Into Carnivores- or at Least
Accomplices. Scientific America. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artfulamoeba/root-fungi-can-turn-pine-trees-into-carnivores-8212-or-at-leastaccomplices/#

Kira Fischer, Bethany Essary, Sydney Black, Victoria Olson, Lisa BroshearsHeibel
Killer Fungi
Biology 1010

Klironomos, John and Hart, Miranda. University of Guelph. 2001 Macmillan

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