The origin of the cactus-yeast community

Starmer, William T.; Schmedicke, Robert A; Lachance, Marc André

doi:10.1016/s1567-1356(03)00056-4

Cited by 43 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Developing larvae bore through the necrotic tissue, opening new areas for fungi to colonize. Over 100 species of Drosophila have evolved associations between cacti and fungi in New World deserts over the past ∼20 million years [17]–[22], capitalizing on this diverse plant resource.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal Diversity Associated with Hawaiian Drosophila Host Plants

et al. 2012

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Hawaiian Drosophila depend primarily, sometimes exclusively, on specific host plants for oviposition and larval development, and most specialize further on a particular decomposing part of that plant. Differences in fungal community between host plants and substrate types may establish the basis for host specificity in Hawaiian Drosophila . Fungi mediate decomposition, releasing plant micronutrients and volatiles that can indicate high quality substrates and serve as cues to stimulate oviposition. This study addresses major gaps in our knowledge by providing the first culture-free, DNA-based survey of fungal diversity associated with four ecologically important tree genera in the Hawaiian Islands. Three genera, Cheirodendron , Clermontia , and Pisonia , are important host plants for Drosophila . The fourth, Acacia , is not an important drosophilid host but is a dominant forest tree. We sampled fresh and rotting leaves from all four taxa, plus rotting stems from Clermontia and Pisonia . Based on sequences from the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rDNA gene, we identified by BLAST search representatives from 113 genera in 13 fungal classes. A total of 160 operational taxonomic units, defined on the basis of ≥97% genetic similarity, were identified in these samples, but sampling curves show this is an underestimate of the total fungal diversity present on these substrates. Shannon diversity indices ranged from 2.0 to 3.5 among the Hawaiian samples, a slight reduction compared to continental surveys. We detected very little sharing of fungal taxa among the substrates, and tests of community composition confirmed that the structure of the fungal community differed significantly among the substrates and host plants. Based on these results, we hypothesize that fungal community structure plays a central role in the establishment of host preference in the Hawaiian Drosophila radiation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal Diversity Associated with Hawaiian Drosophila Host Plants

et al. 2012

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“…The yeast community, listed in supporting information (SI) Table S1, is unusual for nectar and contains a number of hitherto unknown species. The dominant members are typical of communities found in rotting fruit and necrotic tissue of succulent plants (18) or those found in spontaneous industrial fermentations (19).…”

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confidence: 99%

Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild treeshrews

Wiens

Zitzmann

Lachance

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

140

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For humans alcohol consumption often has devastating consequences. Wild mammals may also be behaviorally and physiologically challenged by alcohol in their food. Here, we provide a detailed account of chronic alcohol intake by mammals as part of a coevolved relationship with a plant. We discovered that seven mammalian species in a West Malaysian rainforest consume alcoholic nectar daily from flower buds of the bertam palm (Eugeissona tristis), which they pollinate. The 3.8% maximum alcohol concentration (mean: 0.6%; median: 0.5%) that we recorded is among the highest ever reported in a natural food. Nectar high in alcohol is facilitated by specialized flower buds that harbor a fermenting yeast community, including several species new to science. Pentailed treeshrews (Ptilocercus lowii) frequently consume alcohol doses from the inflorescences that would intoxicate humans. Yet, the flower-visiting mammals showed no signs of intoxication. Analysis of an alcohol metabolite (ethyl glucuronide) in their hair yielded concentrations higher than those in humans with similarly high alcohol intake. The pentailed treeshrew is considered a living model for extinct mammals representing the stock from which all extinct and living treeshrews and primates radiated. Therefore, we hypothesize that moderate to high alcohol intake was present early on in the evolution of these closely related lineages. It is yet unclear to what extent treeshrews benefit from ingested alcohol per se and how they mitigate the risk of continuous high blood alcohol concentrations.alcohol self-administration ͉ bertam palm ͉ nectar feeding ͉ pollination

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“…As many of the species were originally classified as members of the genus Pichia, it appeared at one time that an oligotrophic member of that genus had undergone a minor radiation upon colonizing cacti, a rather recent plant family (Starmer et al, 1986). However, molecular evidence does not support this scenario, and the present picture is of several invasions by yeast lineages from separate clades within the Saccharomycetales (Starmer et al, 2003). Given the diverse origins of the yeasts in the habitat, the yeasts that arrived became isolated from their relatives and many have undergone subsequent speciation within the habitat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Pichia insulana sp. nov., a novel cactophilic yeast from the Caribbean

Ganter

Cardinali²,

Boundy‐Mills

2010

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

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A novel species of ascomycetous yeast, Pichia insulana sp. nov., is described from necrotic tissue of columnar cacti on Caribbean islands. P. insulana is closely related to and phenotypically very similar to Pichia cactophila and Pichia pseudocactophila. There are few distinctions between these taxa besides spore type, host preference and locality. Sporogenous strains of P. insulana that produce asci with four hat-shaped spores have been found only on Curaç ao, whereas there was no evidence of sporogenous P. cactophila from that island. In addition, sequences of the D1/D2 fragment of the large-subunit rDNA from 12 Curaç ao strains showed consistent differences from the sequences of the type strains of P. cactophila and P. pseudocactophila. The type strain of P. insulana is TSU00-106.5 T (5CBS 11169 T 5UCD-FST 09-160 T ).

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The origin of the cactus-yeast community

Cited by 43 publications

References 34 publications

Fungal Diversity Associated with Hawaiian Drosophila Host Plants

Fungal Diversity Associated with Hawaiian Drosophila Host Plants

Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild treeshrews

Pichia insulana sp. nov., a novel cactophilic yeast from the Caribbean

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