Building a molecular foundation for tropical mycorrhizal biology: Sporocarp surveys of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity of Southeast Asian dipterocarp forests

龙脑香科是东南亚低地热带雨林中最多样化、最丰富的树科。有超过 500 种真菌，全部依靠与根相关的真菌（称为外生菌根 (ECM) 真菌）来获取土壤养分。外生菌根真菌与世界各地森林群落中的特定树木群落进化出密切的联系，但它们在大多数低地热带地区很少见。然而，ECM 真菌多样性的程度尚不清楚，因此使得重要的进化和生态假设的检验变得困难。虽然土壤真菌主要以微观形式存在，但许多真菌在其生命周期的有性阶段产生宏观子实体，从而能够与分子数据相结合进行分类鉴定。该项目将利用马来西亚现有的已鉴定和管理的真菌收藏，开始建立龙脑香科森林真菌多样性的 DNA 数据库。这项工作将使土壤和根系的环境样本与特定的真菌种类联系起来。此外，还将继续加强对龙脑香林真菌子实体的收集、鉴定和测序，努力确定特定真菌的寄主树种。 该项目更广泛的影响包括马来西亚当地助理和学生的教学和培训。我们还将为外国和马来西亚研究人员提供有关实地真菌子实体收集和鉴定的强化培训研讨会。子实体的数字图像将在网上公开提供。由于龙脑香科植物也是非常珍贵的木材，并且经历了世界上最高的森林砍伐率，因此这项研究将有助于实施森林保护和再生战略。

The Dipterocarpaceae is the most diverse and abundant tree family in the lowland tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. There are more than 500 species and all depend on root-associated fungi called ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi to obtain soil nutrients. Ectomycorrhizal fungi have evolved intimate associations with particular groups of trees in forest communities across the world, but they are rare in most lowland tropical regions. However, the extent of ECM fungal diversity is unknown, thereby making tests of important evolutionary and ecological hypotheses difficult. While soil fungi predominantly exist in microscopic form, many fungi make macroscopic fruiting bodies during the sexual stage of their life cycle, enabling taxonomic identifications that can be coupled with molecular data. This project will make use of an existing collection of identified and curated fungi in Malaysia to begin building and DNA database for fungal diversity in dipterocarp forest. This effort will allow environmental samples of soils and roots to be linked to specific species of fungi. Also, fungal fruiting bodies from the dipterocarp forest will continue to be collected, identified, and sequenced at a greater intensity with efforts to identify host tree species of specific fungi. Broader impacts for this project include the teaching and training of local Malaysian assistants and students. We will also provide an intensive training workshop for foreign and Malaysian researchers in the collection and identification of fungal sporocarps in the field. Digital images of sporocarps will be publicly available online. Since dipterocarps are also highly prized for timber and have experienced some the highest deforestation rates in the world, this research will be useful for implementing strategies for forest conservation and regeneration.