Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Diversity of fungi from the mound nests of Formica ulkei and adjacent non-nest soils

Journal: Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Manuscript ID cjm-2015-0628.R2

Manuscript Type: Article

Date Submitted by the Author: 25-Feb-2016

Complete List of Authors: Duff, Lyndon B.; Brandon University, Biology Urichuk, Theresa M.; Brandon University, Biology Hodgins, Lisa N.; Brandon University, Biology Young, JocelynDraft R.; Brandon University, Biology Untereiner, Wendy; Brandon University, Biology

Keyword: Aspergillus, fungal biodiversity, xerotolerant, mound-building

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 1

1 Diversity of fungi from the mound nests of Formica ulkei and adjacent non-nest soils

2

3 Lyndon B. Duff, Theresa M. Urichuk, Lisa N. Hodgins, Jocelyn R. Young, and Wendy A.

4 Untereiner 1

5 Department of Biology, Brandon University, 270 18 th Street, Brandon, Manitoba, R7A 6A9,

6 Canada

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8 L.B. Duff ([email protected])

9 T.M. Urichuk ([email protected])

10 L.N. Hodgins ([email protected])

11 J.R. Young ([email protected])Draft

12 W.A. Untereiner ([email protected])

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22 1 Corresponding author

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 2 23 Abstract

24 Culturebased methods were employed to recover 3929 isolates of fungi from soils collected

25 in May and July 2014 from mound nests of Formica ulkei and adjacent nonnest sites. The

26 abundance, diversity, and richness of species from nest mounds exceeded those of non

27 mound soils, particularly in July. Communities of fungi from mounds were more similar to

28 those from mounds than nonmounds; this was also the case for nonmound soils with the

29 exception of one nonmound site in July. Species of Aspergillus , Paecilomyces and

30 Penicillium were dominant in nest soils and represented up to 81.8% of the taxa recovered.

31 Members of the genus Aspergillus accounted for the majority of Trichocomaceae from nests

32 and were represented almost exclusively by Aspergillus navahoensis and A. pseudodeflectus . 33 Dominant fungi from nonmound sites Draftincluded Cladosporium cladosporioides , Geomyces 34 pannorum and species of Acremonium , Fusarium , Penicillium and Phoma. Although mound

35 nests were warmer than adjacent soils, the dominance of xerotolerant Aspergillus in soils

36 from mounds and the isolation of the majority of Trichocomaceae at 25˚C and 35˚C suggests

37 that both temperature and water availability may be determinants of fungal community

38 structure in nests of F. ulkei .

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41 Key words: Aspergillus , fungal biodiversity, moundbuilding ant, xerotolerant

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 3 48 Introduction

49 The moundbuilding ant Formica ulkei Emery (: Formicidae) ranges from Alberta

50 to Nova Scotia (Canada) and southward to Illinois, Indiana and Iowa (USA) (Holmquist 1928;

51 Sherba 1958; Glasier et al. 2013). This species builds conspicuous nests in meadows and

52 pastures along the margins of forests and sparsely wooded areas (Holmquist 1928; Dreyer

53 and Park 1932; Sherba 1958). Nests are composed of excavated soil and covered by a layer

54 of thatch (i.e., small pieces of grass and other plant material) (Sherba 1958, 1959, 1962).

55 The mound nests of F. ulkei are thermoregulatory in function and are constructed to

56 achieve and maintain higher temperatures than adjacent undisturbed soils during the months

57 when the are most active (Sherba 1962). Nests are built in exposed sites and are 58 oriented to maximize their exposure toDraft solar radiation (Sherba 1958); they gain heat from 59 solar radiation in the early spring and maintain temperatures that are higher and more stable

60 than those of surrounding soils because of the insulating properties of thatch (Sherba 1962;

61 Frouz and Jilková 2008). This layer of organic material prevents the overheating of mounds

62 during the warmest parts of the year in other ant species that construct thatched nests

63 (Bollazzi and Rocces 2010; Kadochová and Frouz 2014) and it may serve the same function

64 in F. ulkei .

65 Although it is recognized that moundbuilding ants are capable of dramatically modifying

66 their environments and altering the chemical and physical properties of soils (Beattie and

67 Culver 1977; Frouz and Jilková 2008; Jilková et al. 2011), few studies have explored the

68 impact of microclimatic conditions on the composition of the communities of fungi in these

69 soils (Ba et al. 2000; Zettler et al. 2002; Rodrigues et al. 2014). Given the availability of a

70 large group of nests of F. ulkei in southeastern Manitoba, we undertook a study to 1) confirm

71 the temperature characteristics of the mound nests of this species reported in previous

72 studies, and 2) test the hypothesis that the community of culturable fungi from soils from

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 4 73 nests differs from adjacent, nonnest soils. We were also interested in comparing the species

74 richness and diversity of the communities of culturable fungi of separate mound nests of F.

75 ulkei .

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77 Materials and Methods

78 Collection of soils and temperature data

79 Thermocron iButton data loggers (DS1921G, Maxim Integrated Products, San Jose, USA)

80 that had been preset to measure temperature every two hours were coated in Performix

81 Plasti Dip (Plasti Dip International, Blaine, USA) to prevent moisture damage (Roznik and

82 Alford 2012). Data loggers were buried 5 cm deep in soil on the top, south side and north side 83 of three mound nests of Formica ulkei Draftlocated on the unforested edge of a cattle pasture that 84 had not been grazed in approximately 10 years, south of White Mud Falls, Manitoba (UTM

85 coordinates of mound 1 = 14U 0707355 5588945; mound 2 = 14U 0707363 5588913; mound

86 3 = 14U 0707367 5588908). One data logger was buried at a depth of 5 cm at one location 1

87 m south of each mound. Another data logger was also secured at a height of 2 m to the north

88 (i.e., the shaded) side of a tree located in the middle of the study area to collect air

89 temperatures. Data loggers recorded temperatures from 9 May to 18 September 2014.

90 Nests were sampled on 11 May and 14 July 2014 by collecting the uppermost 3 cm of

91 soil beneath the thatch from the top and south sides of each mound. Each site on all mounds

92 was sampled using a new plastic spoon. Soils to a depth of 3 cm were collected from

93 adjacent nonmound soil 1 m south of nests using a soil core sampler that was sterilized in

94 100% ethanol and rinsed in sterile distilled water between samples. Samples were placed into

95 separate, unused plastic freezer bags, sealed and transported in an ice cooler to the

96 laboratory. Each sample was emptied into a clean aluminum pan, airdried at room

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 5 97 temperature (1821˚C), subjected to sieving using a 2 mm mesh to remove plant debris, and

98 stored in a new freezer bag.

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100 Isolation and identification of fungi

101 Individual soil samples were used within 3 days following collection to prepare tenfold serial

102 dilutions in sterile distilled water ranging from 10 1 to 10 7. Each dilution was plated in triplicate

103 on DextrosePeptoneYeast Extract agar (DPYA) (Papavizas and Davey 1959) lacking oxgall

104 and sodium propionate, and Dichloran Rose Bengal agar (DRBA) (King et al. 1979)

105 containing 25 mg Rose Bengal, 2 mg dichloran, and KH 2PO 4 rather than K 2HPO 4. Both media

106 were supplemented with 50 mg chlortetracycline hydrochloride and 50 mg streptomycin 107 sulphate. Duplicate sets of plates wereDraft incubated at 25˚C and 35˚C for 5 days. 108 All fungal colonies were transferred to Modified Leonian’s agar (MLA) (Malloch 1981),

109 incubated at room temperature and identified based on cultural and micromorphological

110 characters. Isolates that could be discriminated as separate taxa within genera but not

111 identified to species were numbered. Sporulating fungi that could not be identified to the level

112 of genus were designated as “undetermined” whereas those taxa that did not sporulate on

113 MLA were labeled “sterile” (see supplemental Table S1). Nonfilamentous fungi and

114 Zygomycota, which were isolated in very low numbers on both DRBA and DPYA, were

115 disregarded. Fungi recovered on DPYE were also excluded from analyses because of the

116 high levels of bacterial contamination, particularly in soils collected in July.

117 Dominant species of Aspergillus were characterized on Czapek Dox agar (CZ), Czapek

118 Yeast agar (CYA), Czapek Yeast agar with 20% sucrose (CY20S) and Malt Extract agar

119 following Klich (2002a) and on Creatine Sucrose agar (CREA) as described by Samson et al.

120 (2014). The thermotolerances of these taxa were determined by assessing their ability to

121 grow on CYA and MLA when incubated at 37˚C, 45˚C, and 50˚C. Cultures used for DNA

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 6 122 extraction were grown as described previously (Untereiner et al. 2008) and total nucleic acids

123 were extracted from mycelia following the protocols of Lee and Taylor (1990). The nuclear

124 ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nucITS) region and a portion of the gene encoding the

125 protein βtubulin were amplified as described in Bogale et al. (2010) using the primers ITS4,

126 ITS5 (nucITS) (White et al. 1990) and Bt2a, and Bt2b (βtubulin) (Glass and Donaldson

127 1995). PCR products were cleaned using a QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen,

128 Mississauga, Canada). Sequencing reactions were performed using a Taq DyeDeoxy cycle

129 sequencing kit or a BigDye Terminator cycle sequencing kit (Applied Biosystems, Inc., Foster

130 City, USA) using the primers listed above. Confirmation of the identification of these taxa as

131 Aspergillus navahoensis (UAMH 11867; GenBank KU310972, KU310974) and A. 132 pseudodeflectus (UAMH 11868; GenBankDraft KU310973, KU310975) was based on the 133 comparison of generated DNA sequences to the nucITS and βtubulin barcodes provided by

134 Samson et al. (2014).

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136 Statistical analyses

137 Daily temperature readings for Thermocron iButton data loggers placed in the south side of

138 each mound were averaged per day from May 6 to September 18, 2014. Data for the tops of

139 mounds were not included in averages because two iButtons from this location were

140 dislodged during the course of the study. Data from the north sides of mounds were also

141 excluded because these temperatures differed significantly from temperatures from the south

142 sides of mounds (data not shown). A oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) of temperature

143 differences (mounds 1, 2, and 3, nonmounds 1, 2, and 3, and ambient temperature) was

144 conducted using PSPP v 0.8.4 (Pfaff 2015). The same software was used to perform a post

145 hoc Tukey HSD test.

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 7 146 Numbers of isolates on DRBA were used to calculate colonyforming units (CFU) per g

147 of soil and the proportional abundance of each species or taxon within a group (i.e., “sterile”

148 and “undetermined”). Diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson and Simpson inverse) were

149 calculated using BiodiversityR (Kindt and Coe 2005). Rényi diversity profiles describing the

150 richness and evenness of sites were also generated using BiodiversityR. Between sites

151 comparisons of speciesabundance data were measured using the MorisitaHorn index of

152 similarity in BiodiversityR. These data were converted into distance matrixes and employed to

153 generate dendrograms using hierarchical clustering R v 3.2.2 (R Core Team 2015).

154

155 Results 156 Maximum and mean average daily temperaturesDraft of soils from mounds exceeded those of 157 adjacent nonmound sites (Table 1) and results of an ANOVA ( F(6, 924) = 61.90, p = 0.000)

158 (Supplemental Table S2) indicated significant differences in the mean average temperatures

159 between sites. Posthoc Tukey HSD multiple comparisons revealed that the average daily

160 temperatures of mounds were higher than nonmound sites (Supplemental Table S3). The

161 temperatures of mound 2 and 3 did not differ significantly, nor were significant differences in

162 temperature seen among nonmound sites. All mound sites were warmer than ambient

163 temperature whereas nonmound sites 2 and 3 were cooler. Nonmound site 1 did not differ

164 significantly from ambient temperature. Differences in the average weekly temperatures of

165 soils from mound and nonmound sites are illustrated in Figure 1.

166 Excluding nonfilamentous fungi and Zygomycota, a total of 3929 isolates representing

167 307 taxa were recovered at all dilutions from mound nest and adjacent nonmound sites on

168 DRBA (Table 2, Supplemental Table S1). Higher numbers of isolates and taxa were obtained

169 from DRBA incubated at 25 C. Soils collected in July contained a larger numbers of isolates

170 (Table 2) and had greater species richness (Table 3) than soils collected in May.

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 8 171 The abundance (CFU g 1), diversity, and richness of species from soils of nest mounds

172 generally exceeded those of nonmounds, particularly in July (Table 3). Mound soils differed

173 in richness among sites in July, as did soils from nonmounds. Species richness in May did

174 not differ as dramatically between sites with the exception of mound 1 which was under

175 sampled because of an error in the preparation of soil dilutions. Rényi profiles did not

176 discriminate between mound and nonmound soils in May with respect to species diversity;

177 soils in July differed with the exception of nonmound 2 that intersected with mound 2 and

178 mound 3 (Figure 2). As illustrated in Figure 2, the evenness of species from soils from non

179 mound 2 was higher than at all other sites in May and July but the evenness of the remaining

180 sites could not be ranked. The evenness of soil from mound 1 in May likely reflects the 181 aforementioned undersampling. CommunitiesDraft in soils from mounds were more similar to 182 species from mounds than nonmound sites in May and July (Figure 3). This was also the

183 case for taxa from nonmounds with the exception of the community from nonmound 1 in

184 July that more closely resembled the mycota from mounds.

185 The most abundant fungi in soil from mounds were Aspergillus navahoensis (ITS 99%

186 similarity to EF652424; βtubulin 99% similarity to EF652248) and Aspergillus

187 pseudodeflectus (ITS 100% similarity to EF652507; βtubulin 100% similarity to EF652331),

188 that represented 17.4 to 44.2% and 8.6 to 37.6% of the recovered taxa, respectively (Tables

189 45). Both species were recovered from all mounds in May and July. The proportional

190 abundances of these species were higher in May except that A. pseudodeflectus was more

191 abundant in mound 2 in July. Aspergillus pseudodeflectus was recovered from only a single

192 nonmound site in May but in very low abundance (0.3%) representing a single isolate

193 whereas A. navahoensis was never isolated from nonmound soils. Cultures of A.

194 navahoensis conformed to the description of this species provided by Christensen and States

195 (1982) and were distinctive in producing rapidly maturing ascomata, abundant Hülle cells, and

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 9 196 crystalencrusted hyphae. Aspergillus navahoensis grew at 37˚C and at 45˚C, but showed

197 better growth at 37˚C; it exhibited no growth at 50˚C. Aspergillus pseudodeflectus grew at

198 37˚C but exhibited no growth at 45˚C and 50˚C.

199 Additional taxa from mound soils with abundances higher than 5% included

200 Cladosporium cladosporioides , Geomyces pannorum , Myriothecium sp. and species of

201 Acremonium . However, these fungi were not the dominant members of the mycota of all

202 mounds nor were they equally abundant in the same mound in both May and July.

203 Undetermined species were dominant members of soils from mound 3 and were more

204 abundant in July. Sterile fungi comprised more than 5% of the isolates in soils from every

205 mound but only in July. 206 Species of Penicillium were dominantDraft members of the mycota of soils from nonmound 207 sites but were less abundant in May than in July. Other taxa from nonmound sites with

208 abundances greater than 5% included Cladosporium cladosporioides , Geomyces pannorum ,

209 undetermined and sterile fungi, and members of the genera Acremonium , Fusarium and

210 Phoma. However, only Geomyces pannorum , undetermined and sterile fungi, and species of

211 Penicillium represented more than 5% of the taxa recovered at more than one site at a given

212 sampling time.

213

214 Discussion

215 The results of the present study agree with Scherba (1962) who reported that the thatch

216 covered mound nests of Formica ulkei are warmer than surrounding undisturbed soils during

217 the months when these ants are most active. We also observed significant differences

218 between the temperatures of the north and south sides of mounds (data not included), a

219 phenomenon that can likely be attributed to variations in the dimensions of mounds, the

220 composition and density of thatch, and degree of shading (Scherba 1962; Frouz 2000;

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 10 221 Kadochová and Frouz 2014).

222 Our investigation also demonstrates that the communities of fungi in soils from nest

223 mounds of Formica ulkei differ from nonmound soils with respect to the abundances of

224 species, species richness, and diversity. Soils of nest mounds of F. ulkei resemble those of

225 Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant) in containing greater numbers of fungal colonies

226 than adjacent, nonnest soils (Zettler et al. 2002) but they differ in having higher levels of

227 species richness. In July, two of the three mounds we sampled had higher levels of species

228 diversity than nonnest soils. In contrast, culturedependent assessments revealed that below

229 ground nests of young colonies of Atta (leafcutting ants) contain lower to comparable

230 numbers of colonies of filamentous fungi as nonnest soils but have similar levels of species 231 diversity and richness (Rodrigues et al.Draft 2014). 232 Members of the Trichocomaceae (species of Aspergillus , Paecilomyces and Penicillium )

233 were dominant in soils from mound nests of F. ulkei and represented 39.5% (mound 3) to

234 81.8% (mound 1) of the total numbers of taxa recovered. Trichocomaceae are among the

235 most common filamentous Ascomycota isolated from the nests of moundbuilding and leaf

236 cutting ants (Baird et al. 2007; Zettler et al. 2002; Sharma and Sumbali 2013; Rodrigues et al.

237 2014) but only a single study (Zettler et al. 2002) resembles ours in recovering different

238 representatives of this family from nests and nonnest soils.

239 Aspergillus accounted for more than 80% of Trichocomaceae isolated from mound nests

240 and were represented almost exclusively by Aspergillus navahoensis (section Nidulantes ) and

241 A. pseudodeflectus (section Usti ). Aspergillus navahoensis was described from soils from a

242 cool desert shrub community in northern Arizona (Christianson and States 1982) and belongs

243 to a section of the genus that occurs at greater than expected frequencies in desert soils

244 (Klich 2002b). This species was recovered originally in low numbers (Christianson and States

245 1982) and, apart from the present study, does not appear to have been collected since it was

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 11 246 described. Aspergillus pseudodeflectus is an infrequently collected osmophilic species

247 described from desert soils in Egypt (Samson and Mouchacca 1975) that was reported to be

248 restricted to the tropics and subtropics (Christensen and Tuthill 1985). It is closely related to

249 A. calidoustus , a more commonly encountered species known from clinical and environmental

250 sources that is distinguished from A. pseudodeflectus based on its ecology and molecular

251 barcodes (Samson et al. 2011, 2014).

252 Trichocomaceae were also abundant in soils from nonmound sites but were

253 represented almost exclusively by species of Paecilomyces and Penicillium . These genera

254 were consistently more abundant in nonmound soils than in soils from mounds. Members of

255 the genus Aspergillus were absent from nonmound soils with the exception of a single colony 256 of A. pseudodeflectus that we suspect Draftwas a contaminant. 257 Differences in the fungal communities of the soils of nest mounds of Formica ulkei and

258 adjacent nonnest sites likely reflect environmental factors that are influenced by nest location

259 and architecture. For example, mound nests of F. ulkei in Illinois were shown to be restricted

260 to drier regions along forest margins and were constructed to maximize insolation (Dreyer and

261 Park 1932; Dreyer 1942). Nest construction also dramatically alters the physical

262 characteristics of soil that operate to regulate the moisture content and temperatures of

263 mounds relative to surrounding soils. Mound building can increase soil porosity and reduce

264 the bulk density of soils, both of which influence soil aeration and soil permeability (Frouz and

265 Jilková 2008). The moisture content in mounds of F. ulkei at 5 cm has been shown to be

266 lower than in adjacent soils throughout the year and lower than in mounds at 30 cm during the

267 warmer months when the ants were active (Sherba 1959). Although we did not determine the

268 moisture content of soils at our study site, we observed that the daily temperatures of nests of

269 F. ulkei peaked in the evening and decreased slowly during the night (data not shown) in

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 12 270 agreement with the description of the drier and more exposed nests of Formica polyctena

271 (European red wood ant) (Frouz 2000).

272 The supposition that the nests of Formica ulkei at our study site were drier than adjacent

273 sites is also supported by the dominance of Aspergillus in nests as compared to soils located

274 1 m from each mound. Species of Aspergillus are common in soils from warmer regions of the

275 world (Domsch et al. 1993; Bills et al. 2004) and are among the most xerotolerant

276 Ascomycota (Dix and Webster 1995; Zak and Wildman 2004). Members of this genus are

277 particularly abundant in desert and grassland soils where they represent up to 20% of isolated

278 species (Christensen and Tuthill 1985). Although both A. navahoensis and A.

279 pseudodeflectus were capable of growth at the highest average daily temperatures recorded 280 for mound and nonmound soils, only theDraft former species was determined to be thermotolerant 281 (i.e., it grows at temperatures below 20˚C and at 40˚C or higher). This finding, in conjunction

282 with our observation that all Aspergillus and Paecilomyces and nearly half of the species of

283 Penicillium were isolated at both 25˚C and 35˚C (Supplemental Table S1), suggests that

284 water availability is also be a determinant of fungal community structure in mound nests of F.

285 ulkei .

286 Factors such as nutrient availability, soil chemistry and the physical properties of soils

287 also likely influence the structure of fungal communities in the mound nests of F. ulkei and

288 adjacent nonnest soils. For example, soils in ant nests have higher levels of nutrients (Frouz

289 et al. 2005; Frouz and Jílková 2008; Ginzburg et al. 2008; Jílková et al. 2015) and differ from

290 surrounding soils in pH, porosity, and the content of organic matter (Frouz and Jílková 2008;

291 Jílková et al. 2011). Microbial activity is assumed to be higher in ant nests because of these

292 differences, but the mechanisms underlying the impacts of ants on soil processes and other

293 soil biota are not well understood (Frouz and Jílková 2008; Del Toro et al. 2012).

294 Nests of Formica ulkei are reservoirs of fungal diversity that should be explored further

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 13 295 using the approaches presented here. Our understanding of these communities would be

296 improved with the more frequent sampling of nest mounds and adjacent nonnest soils, the

297 isolation of fungi over a longer period of time, the use of media designed to isolate

298 ecologically specialized taxa, and the determination of temperature differences from a larger

299 number of sites within nest mounds. And because the enumeration methods used in our

300 study are selective for fungi that produce abundant spores (Garrett 1981), it would be

301 valuable to examine the diversity of culturable fungi in these soils using alternative isolation

302 methods (described in Bills et al. 2004). The complementary use of sequencebased

303 approaches such as environmental metagenomics would also enhance our understanding of

304 these assemblages of fungi, particularly in recovering nonculturable species and taxa that 305 are undersampled employing cultureddependentDraft methods (Bills et al. 2004; Karst et al. 306 2013; Rodrigues et al. 2014). Sequence based approaches would also facilitate the

307 identification of sterile fungi and many of the micromorphologically simple or taxonomically

308 challenging species present in the mound nests of Formica ulkei.

309

310 Acknowledgments

311 We are indebted to Gary McNeely (Brandon University) and three anonymous reviewers for

312 their insightful editorial comments and suggestions for the improvement of this paper. We also

313 thank Dennis and Jacqueline Caya for their permission to access nest mounds located on

314 their property and David Caya for serving as a bear guard during soil sampling. Financial

315 support for this study was provided by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

316 (NSERC) of Canada Discovery Grant to W.A.U. Funding in the form of NSERC

317 Undergraduate Summer Research Awards to L.B.D. (2014, 2015), T.M.U. (2014) and J.R.Y.

318 (2015) is very gratefully acknowledged.

319

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Duff et al.; Fungi from nests of Formica ulkei 21 492 Figure captions

493 Figure 1. Weekly averages of ambient temperatures and temperatures of mound (M1, M2 and

494 M3) and nonmound (S1, S2 and S3) soils. Markers indicate the dates when soils were

495 collected.

496

497 Figure 2. Renyi profiles comparing the diversity of fungi found in mound and nonmound soils

498 from a) May 2014 and b) July 2014. Alpha = 0 is the species richness, alpha = 1 is the

499 ShannonWeiner diversity index, and alpha = 2 is the log of the reciprocal of the Simpson

500 diversity index.

501 502 Figure 3. Dendrograms illustrating MorisitaHornDraft similarities between the communities of fungi 503 from mound (M1, M2 and M3) and nonmound (S1, S2 and S3) soils in a) May 2014 and b)

504 July 2014.

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Draft Figure 1. Weekly averages of ambient temperatures and temperatures of mound (M1, M2 and M3) and non- mound (S1, S2 and S3) soils. Markers indicate the dates when soils were collected. 577x347mm (96 x 96 DPI)

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Figure 2. Renyi profiles comparing the diversity of fungi found in mound and non-mound soils from a) May 2014 and b) July 2014. Alpha = 0 is the species richness, alpha = 1 is the Shannon-Weiner diversity index, and alpha = 2 is the log of the reciprocal of the Simpson diversity index. 397x725mm (96 x 96 DPI)

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Draft

Figure 3. Dendrograms illustrating Morisita-Horn similarities between the communities of fungi from mound (M1, M2 and M3) and non-mound (S1, S2 and S3) soils in a) May 2014 and b) July 2014. 133x236mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Table 1. Descriptive statistics for average daily temperatures (°C) of mound (M) and non-mound (S) sites.

Std. 95% Confidence interval for mean Site N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. error deviation Lower bound Upper bound M1 133 7.03 23.08 17.11 3.77 0.33 16.46 17.75 M2 133 8.52 29.08 22.26 5.13 0.45 21.38 23.14 M3 133 7.10 25.17 18.83 4.34 0.38 18.09 19.58 S1 133 7.46 19.92 14.96 3.03 0.26 14.44 15.48 S2 133 6.17 18.96 14.40 3.10 0.27 13.87 14.93 S3 133 6.25 18.58 13.94 2.82 0.24 13.46 14.43 All sites 798 6.17 29.08 16.92 4.70 0.17 16.58 17.25

Draft

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Table 2 . Number of isolates of fungi recovered at 25 °C and 35 °C on DRBA from mound (M) and nonmound (S) sites in May and July 2014. Sample Temperature of M1 S1 M2 S2 M3 S3 Total time incubation (°C) May 25 134 135 191 80 391 237 1168 May 35 54 2 152 152 116 20 496 July 25 416 59 267 139 552 1 1434 July 35 328 59 152 35 240 17 831 Total − 932 255 762 406 1299 275 3929

Draft

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Table 3. Richness and diversity estimators of fungal communities of mound (M) and non-mound (S) sites calculated in BiodiversityR. May 2014 Total CFU/g soil Species richness Shannon diversity Simpson diversity a Simpson inverse

7 M1 115.67 x 10 8 1.32 ± 0.14 0.668 ± 0.072 3.01 ± 0.65

7 1 10.83 x 10 44 2.75 ± 0.07 0.871 ± 0.014 7.72 ± 0.81

7 M2 29.55 x 10 36 2.32 ± 0.08 0.792 ± 0.029 4.81 ± 0.68

7 S2 36.66 x 10 33 2.81 ± 0.09 0.928 ± 0.003 13.86 ± 0.61

7 M3 57.75 x 10 30 Draft2.27 ± 0.09 0.821 ± 0.022 5.59 ± 0.70 7 S3 11.4 x 10 37 2.21 ± 0.09 0.800 ± 0.022 5.00 ± 0.55

July 2014 Total CFU/g soil Species richness Shannon diversity Simpson diversity Simpson inverse

7 M1 38.7 x 10 49 2.11 ± 0.08 0.781 ± 0.021 4.57 ± 0.43

7 S1 5.77 x 10 36 2.00 ± 0.06 0.654 ± 0.056 2.89 ± 0.47

7 M2 42.45 x 10 66 3.09 ± 0.06 0.894 ± 0.008 9.46 ± 0.77

7 S2 6.15 x 10 50 3.40 ± 0.06 0.954 ± 0.002 21.7 ± 0.94

7 M3 82.88 x 10 85 3.33 ± 0.05 0.924 ± 0.005 13.2 ± 0.80

7 S3 3.57 x 10 19 0.955 ± 0.03 0.315 ± 0.157 1.46 ± 0.33 a Simpson diversity = (1-Simpson index)

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Table 4 . Colony forming units per gram of soil (CFU/g) and the proportional abundance a of taxa recovered May 2014 from mound (M) and nonmound (S) sites. M1 S1 M2 S2 M3 S3 Taxa (n = 126) p p p p p p i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) Acremonium spp. (9) b − − 6.1 6.60 x 10 6 0.5 1.50 x 10 6 9.8 3.60 x 10 7 13.8 7.95 x 10 7 1.8 2.10 x 10 6 Aspergillus navahoensis 41.5 4.80 x 10 8 − − 44.2 1.31 x 10 8 − − 20.8 1.20 x 10 8 − − Aspergillus pseudodeflectus 37.6 4.35 x 10 8 − − 8.6 2.55 x 10 7 − − 34.3 1.98 x 10 8 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 Aspergillus spp. 1.3 1.50 x 10 7 − − − − − − 0.3 1.50 x 10 6 − − Aureobasidium sp. − − − − − − − − − − 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 Bipolaris spp. (2) − − − − 2.0 6.00 x 10 6 − − − − − − Cladosporium cladosporioides 1.3 1.50 x 10 7 1.1 1.20 x 10 6 9.6 2.85 x 10 7 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 2.6 1.50 x 10 7 26.3 3.00 x 10 7 Cladosporium herbarum 2.6 3.00 x 10 7 1.7 1.80 x 10 6 2.0 6.00 x 10 6 − − 0.5 3.00 x 10 6 − − Cladosporium macrocarpum − − − − − − − − − − 0.5 6.00 x 10 5 Curvularia brachyspora − − − − 0.5 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − 2.6 3.00 x 10 6 Curvularia geniculatus 1.3 1.50 x 10 7 − − − − − − − − − − Draft 6 6 6 Curvularia spp. (2) − − − − 1.0 3.00 x 10 − − 1.6 9.00 x 10 2.6 3.00 x 10 Devresia sp. − − 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − − − − − Doratomyces nanus − − 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − − − − − Fusarium spp. (4) − − 5.5 6.00 x 10 6 5.1 1.50 x 10 7 13.1 4.80 x 10 7 1.3 7.50 x 10 6 − − Geomyces sp. − − 2.7 3.00 x 10 6 − − − − − − − − Geomyces pannorum − − 16.9 1.83 x 10 7 2.5 7.50 x 10 6 8.8 3.24 x 10 7 8.3 4.80 x 10 7 34.2 3.90 x 10 7 Humicola sp. − − − − 0.5 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − − − Lecythophora sp. − − − − − − − − − − 0.5 6.00 x 10 5 Myrothecium sp. 13.0 1.50 x 10 8 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 0.5 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − − − Paecilomyces spp. (2) − − 0.3 3.00 x 10 5 − − 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 − − − − Paecilomyces marquandii − − 1.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − 8.2 3.00 x 10 7 − − 3.4 3.90 x 10 6 Penicillium spp. (20) − − 1.7 1.80 x 10 6 10.7 3.15 x 10 7 36.0 1.32 x 10 8 0.5 3.00 x 10 6 10.0 1.14 x 10 7 Phoma spp. (11) 1.4 1.67 x 10 7 33.8 3.66 x 10 7 2.5 7.50 x 10 6 − − 4.9 2.85 x 10 7 2.9 3.30 x 10 6 Sterile (20) − − 12.5 1.35 x 10 7 5.6 1.65 x 10 7 3.4 1.23 x 10 7 2.1 1.20 x 10 7 3.4 3.90 x 10 6 Tricellula sp. − − − − − − 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 − − − − Trichocladium sp. − − − − − − − − 2.6 1.50 x 10 7 − − Trichoderma spp. − − 2.7 3.00 x 10 6 0.5 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − 0.5 6.00 x 10 5 Undetermined (36) − − 12.7 1.38 x 10 7 3.6 1.05 x 10 7 18.2 6.69 x 10 7 6.5 3.75 x 10 7 10.5 1.20 x 10 7 Total Trichocomaceae 81.8 3.4 63.5 45 55.9 13.7 a b pi = proportional abundance of the ith species; number of species within a genus or group.

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Table 5. Colony forming units per gram of soil (CFU/g) and the proportional abundance a of taxa recovered July 2014 from mound (M) and nonmound (S) sites. M1 S1 M2 S2 M3 S3 Taxa (n = 197) p p p p p p i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g i CFU/g (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) Acremonium spp. (12) b 1.3 5.17 x 10 6 7.5 4.30 x 10 6 1.4 6.00 x 10 6 12.7 7.80 x 10 6 5.6 4.65 x 10 7 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Acremonium like spp. (5) − − 1.6 9.00 x 10 5 3.5 1.50 x 10 7 1.0 6.00 x 10 5 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 2.5 9.00 x 10 5 Alternaria alternata 0.0 1.67 x 10 5 − − 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − 1.8 1.50 x 10 7 − − Aspergillus navahoensis 36.8 1.42 x 10 8 − − 25.4 1.08 x 10 8 − − 17.4 1.44 x 10 8 − − Aspergillus niger 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − − − − − − − Aspergillus pseudodeflectus 22.4 8.65 x 10 7 − − 17.0 7.20 x 10 7 − − 17.2 1.43 x 10 8 − − Aspergillus spp. − − − − − − − − 1.8 1.50 x 10 7 − − Aureobasidium pullulans 0.1 5.00 x 10 5 − − 0.7 3.00 x 10 6 − − 0.9 7.50 x 10 6 − − Bipolaris sp. 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 − − − − − − − − − − Chrysosporium spp. (2) − − 1.2 6.67 x 10 5 − − 1.0 6.00 x 10 5 − − − − Cladosporium cladosporioides 0.5 2.00 x 10 6 − − 2.8 1.20 x 10 7 3.4 2.10 x 10 6 0.7 6.00 x 10 6 − − Cladosporium herbarum 1.2 4.67 x 10 6 − − 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 0.9 7.50 x 10 6 − − Cladosporium sphaerospermum 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 − − − − 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − Clonostachys rosea 0.8 3.00 x 10 6 − − 3.5 1.50 x 10 7 1.5 9.00 x 10 5 − − − − Draft 6 Clonostachys sp. − − − − 0.4 1.50 x 10 − − − − − − Curvularia geniculatus 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − 0.7 3.00 x 10 6 − − 0.5 4.50 x 10 6 − − Deverisea sp. − − − − − − 1.5 9.00 x 10 5 − − − − Fusarium spp. (4) 0.0 1.67 x 10 5 0.6 3.33 x 10 5 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 1.5 9.00 x 10 5 0.4 3.30 x 10 6 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Geomyces spp. (3) − − 0.6 3.33 x 10 5 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − 0.0 1.50 x 10 5 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Geomyces pannorum 0.5 2.00 x 10 6 5.2 3.00 x 10 6 0.7 3.00 x 10 6 9.3 5.70 x 10 6 6.5 5.40 x 10 7 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Humicola sp. − − − − − − 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − Humicola like sp. − − − − − − 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − Idriella lunata − − − − 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − Myrmecridium sp. − − − − − − − − 0.5 4.50 x 10 6 − − Myrmecridium schulzeri − − 0.6 3.33 x 10 5 − − − − 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 − − Myrothecium sp. 17.5 6.77 x 10 7 − − − − − − − − − − Paecilomyces spp. (2) − − − − − − 2.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − − − Paecilomyces marquandii − − 3.5 2.00 x 10 6 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 3.9 2.40 x 10 6 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Penicillium sp. (26) 1.8 6.83 x 10 6 62.8 3.62 x 10 7 8.1 3.45 x 10 7 39.0 2.40 x 10 7 2.9 2.40 x 10 7 85.7 3.06 x 10 7 Pleurostomophora sp. − − − − 0.4 1.50 x 10 6 − − 0.5 4.50 x 10 6 − − Pseudogymnoascus sp. − − − − − − 0.5 3.00 x 10 5 − − − − Ramichloridium sp. − − − − − − − − 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 − − Solosympodiella sp. − − − − − − − − 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 − − Spicellum sp. − − − − − − − − − − 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Stachybotrys eucylindriospora − − − − − − − − 0.2 1.50 x 10 6 − − Sterile (72) 11.8 4.55 x 10 7 9.8 5.63 x 10 6 25.8 1.10 x 10 8 16.6 1.02 x 10 7 20.8 1.73 x 10 8 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Trichoderma spp. 0.0 1.67 x 10 5 0.6 3.33 x 10 5 3.5 1.50 x 10 7 2.0 1.20 x 10 6 − − 0.8 3.00 x 10 5 Undetermined (42) 2.9 1.13 x 10 7 6.3 3.63 x 10 6 3.9 1.65 x 10 7 1.5 9.00 x 10 5 20.3 1.68 x 10 8 5.0 1.80 x 10 6 Total Trichocomaceae 61.4 66.3 50.9 45.3 39.5 86.5 a b pi = proportional abundance of the ith species; number of species within a genus or group.

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