Fungal diversity in the withered pine trees of Monterey

Abstract

In the Monterey Pine Forest, the trees are seriously threatened by diverse fungal species. To examine the fungal diversity in the withered Monterey pines, lichen specimens, cultured molds, and rDNA clones from pine twings were phylogenetically analyzed. Sixteen specimens of lichens had close relationships with the genera, Alectoria, Amandinea, Lecanora, Niebla, or Ramalina. Sixteen fungal strains isolated from pine twigs were closely related to the genera, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Trichoderma. Fungal biodiversity of two pine twigs were also analyzed by clone library analysis. 21 and 23 different ARDRA types from each pine twig were phylogenetically analyzed. They were clustered in twelve phylogenetic groups of Ascomycetes. Among them, sequences with close relationship to Fusarium circinatum, which is known to cause pine pitch canker, were included.