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种类最多、数量最多的树种。有500多个物种，都依赖于根相关的真菌称为外生菌根（ECM）真菌，以获得土壤养分。外生菌根真菌与世界各地森林群落中的特定树木群体有着密切的联系，但在大多数低地热带地区却很少见。然而，ECM真菌多样性的程度是未知的，从而使重要的进化和生态假说的测试困难。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，从而能够结合分子数据进行分类鉴定。该项目将利用马来西亚现有的已鉴定和策划的真菌收集，开始建立龙脑香林真菌多样性的DNA数据库。这项工作将使土壤和根系的环境样本与特定种类的真菌联系起来。此外，还将继续以更大的力度收集、鉴定和测序来自龙脑香林的真菌子实体，努力鉴定特定真菌的宿主树种。 该项目的更广泛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的研究人员提供实地收集和鉴定真菌子实体的强化培训讲习班。子实体的数字图像将在网上公开。由于龙脑香树也是非常珍贵的木材，并经历了一些世界上最高的森林砍伐率，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.