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Dark Septate Endophytes (DSE) in Boreal and Subarctic Forests

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Endophytes of Forest Trees

Part of the book series: Forestry Sciences ((FOSC,volume 86))

Abstract

Dark septate endophytes (DSE) are root-associated fungi that inhabit plant roots and soil in a wide variety of ecosystems and host plants worldwide. They are recognized by their distinctive growth habit inside healthy roots, although the taxonomic and functional variety of the fungi forming the associations is high. DSE fungi have the potential to act as beneficial symbionts of the trees and other plants, but the evidence is unequivocal. They grow in the roots together with mycorrhizal- and other root-associated fungi, but the relationships between these fungal groups are unknown. Boreal and subarctic forests constitute a continuous belt in the cool and cold areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Roughly, boreal forests are characterized by coniferous trees. The subarctic is most distinctive in the Northernmost Europe where mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) forests form a continuous forest cover near the Arctic treeline. In this chapter, information from studies on DSE fungi in the boreal and subarctic forests is compiled and discussed.

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Abbreviations

ITS:

Internal transcribed spacer

AFLP:

Amplified fragment length polymorphism

RFLP:

Restriction fragment length polymorphism

PAC:

Phialocephala fortinii s.l. – Acephala applanata group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Anna Liisa Ruotsalainen

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  1. Anna Liisa Ruotsalainen
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Correspondence to Anna Liisa Ruotsalainen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Anna Maria Pirttilä

  2. School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, California, USA

    A. Carolin Frank

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Ruotsalainen, A.L. (2018). Dark Septate Endophytes (DSE) in Boreal and Subarctic Forests. In: Pirttilä, A., Frank, A. (eds) Endophytes of Forest Trees. Forestry Sciences, vol 86. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89833-9_5

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