Volume 78, Issue 3 pp. 531-541
Research Article

Yeast communities associated with the bulk-soil, rhizosphere and ectomycorrhizosphere of a Nothofagus pumilio forest in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina

M. Cecilia Mestre

Corresponding Author

M. Cecilia Mestre

Laboratorio de Microbiología Aplicada y Biotecnología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche (CRUB), INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET), Río Negro, Argentina

Correspondence: M. Cecilia Mestre, Laboratorio de Microbiología Aplicada y Biotecnología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche (CRUB), UNCO- INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET), Quintral 1250, Bariloche (8400), Río Negro, Argentina. Tel.:+54 2944 428505; fax: +54 2944 423111; e-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Carlos A. Rosa

Carlos A. Rosa

Departamento de Microbiologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

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Silvana V.B. Safar

Silvana V.B. Safar

Departamento de Microbiologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

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Diego Libkind

Diego Libkind

Laboratorio de Microbiología Aplicada y Biotecnología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche (CRUB), INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET), Río Negro, Argentina

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Sonia B. Fontenla

Sonia B. Fontenla

Laboratorio de Microbiología Aplicada y Biotecnología, Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche (CRUB), INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue-CONICET), Río Negro, Argentina

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First published: 12 August 2011
Citations: 6

Abstract

Soil microorganisms play an important role in soil quality and they interact closely with vegetation. Little is known about yeast diversity and function in forest soil ecosystems and their interactions with other biotic soil components, particularly in the mycorrhizosphere. We studied the diversity of yeasts inhabiting the bulk-soil, rhizosphere and ectomycorrhizosphere of a Nothofagus pumilio forest in Nahuel Huapi National Park (Bariloche, Argentina). Ectomycorrhizal infection was observed in all N. pumilio trees studied. A total of 126 yeast isolates were obtained, including 18 known and three possibly new species. Basidiomycetous yeasts were predominant in all soil fractions, and the most frequently isolated species was Cryptococcus podzolicus. Diversity indices and multivariate analyses were used to study and compare yeast communities in the bulk-soil, rhizosphere and ectomycorrhizosphere. Yeasts able to ferment glucose were found associated with the rhizosphere. Many of the recovered yeast species were associated with lignocelluloses compound degradation, which suggest that yeast plays an important role as a decomposer in these forest soils. Each soil fraction has a distinct yeast assemblage related to their physiologic capacities and soil nutrient availability.

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