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Appl Environ Microbiol, February 1998, p. 607-612, Vol. 64, No. 2
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Osmoregulatory Responses of Fungi Inhabiting Standing Litter of the Freshwater Emergent Macrophyte Juncus effusus

Kevin A. Kuehn,* Perry F. Churchill, and Keller Suberkropp

Department of Biological Sciences, Aquatic Biology Program, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0206

Received 6 August 1997/Accepted 22 November 1997

Standing litter of emergent macrophytes often forms a major portion of the detrital mass in wetland habitats. Microbial assemblages inhabiting this detritus must adapt physiologically to daily fluctuations in temperature and water availability. We examined the effects of various environmental conditions on the concentrations of osmoregulatory solutes (polyols and trehalose) and the respiratory activities of fungal assemblages inhabiting standing litter of the freshwater emergent macrophyte Juncus effusus. Under field conditions, the concentrations of osmolytes (polyols plus trehalose) in fungal decomposers were negatively correlated with plant litter water potentials (r = -0.75, P < 0.001) and rates of microbial respiration (r = -0.66, P < 0.001). The highest concentration of osmolytes (polyols plus trehalose) occurred in standing litter exposed to desiccating conditions (range from wet to dry, 0.06 to 0.68 µmol · mg of fungal biomass-1). Similar fluctuations in polyol and trehalose concentrations were observed in standing litter wetted and dried under laboratory conditions and for four predominant fungal decomposers of J. effusus grown individually on sterilized Juncus leaves. These studies suggest that fungal inhabitants associated with standing litter of emergent macrophytes can adjust their intracellular solute concentrations in response to daily fluctuations in water availability.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Box 870206, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0206. Phone: (205) 348-1823. Fax: (205) 348-1403. E-mail: kkuehn3{at}biology.as.ua.edu.




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