Ecological networks of plant-pollinator-microorganism mutualisms mediated by floral nectar

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12256
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental and ecological symbiosis
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: HIRAO Akira 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 助教 (20447048)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): DEGAWA Yosuke 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 助教 (00311431)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 花蜜酵母 / Metschnikowia / 送粉共生系 / ハナバチ / DNAメタバーコーディング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The natural history of plant-pollinator-microorganism interaction has led to increased interest among ecologists because nectar-dwelling microorganisms, notably yeasts, can modify plant-pollinator mutualisms through their metabolic impact on the chemical properties of nectar. Based on DNA metabarcoding analyses and isolated cultures, we determined composition of microfungal communities in floral nectar from several herb species in a semi-natural grassland and evaluated plant-pollinator-fungus associations with using network analyses. We found that the common nectar-borne fungi diversity comprised few specialist yeasts belong especially to the genus of Metschnikowia and that the fungal communities were structured with respect to pollinator types for the plant species, indicating the network structure of plant-pollinator-microorganism mediated by nectar. In addition, we isolated a novel Metschnikowia species from nectar-associated substrates and revealed its life-cycle.

Free Research Field

分子生態学