Mycologia
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DOI: 10.3852/mycologia.99.1.24
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Mycologia, 99(1), 2007, pp. 24-32.
© 2007 by The Mycological Society of America

Influence of conidial traits and leaf structure on attachment success of aquatic hyphomycetes on leaf litter


Christian K. Dang 1

     Laboratoire Dynamique de la Biodiversité, UMR 5172 CNRS-UPS, 29 rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France

Mark O. Gessner

     Department of Aquatic Ecology, Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, and Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

Eric Chauvet

     Laboratoire Dynamique de la Biodiversité, UMR 5172 CNRS-UPS, 29 rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France

Attachment of conidia on leaves is a critical first step in the life cycle of aquatic hyphomycetes in streams. In a first series of microcosm experiments, attachment success of three common aquatic hyphomycete species differing in conidial shape (compact, filiform and tetraradiate) was determined on two leaf species, black alder and downy oak. Fungal species identity and leaf surface structure significantly affected conidial attachment after 24 h. The lower sides of oak leaves with extensive tufts trapped 2.4–8.8 more conidia than the upper sides of oak leaves and both sides of alder leaves. In a second experiment with seven fungal species, attachment success of two species with tetraradiate conidia was much greater than that of two other tetraradiate and three compact conidia, which all had similar attachment success. The species with the largest spores was also the most successful, but this pattern was not consistent across the size range of tested conidia. These results highlight the importance of leaf surface structure, possibly conidial shape and size and additional properties of aquatic hyphomycete conidia in determining attachment success on leaves and they point to the potential role of these factors in structuring fungal communities on decomposing leaves in streams.

Key words: aquatic hyphomycetes, attachment, conidial shape, decomposition, leaf litter, stream

1 Corresponding author. Current address: Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. E-mail: C.Dang{at}ucc.ie






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Copyright © 2007 by The Mycological Society of America.