Data from: Wood-inhabiting insects can function as targeted vectors for decomposer fungi

Most wood-inhabiting fungi are assumed to be dispersed primarily by wind,
with the exception of a few species involved in mutualistic relationships
with insects. In this study we tested whether several species of
wood-inhabiting insects can function as dispersal vectors for
non-mutualistic fungi, which would indicate that wood-inhabiting fungi can
benefit from targeted animal-mediated dispersal. We sampled
wood-inhabiting beetles (Coleoptera) from freshly felled wood
experimentally added to forests and used DNA metabarcoding to investigate
the fungal DNA carried by these insects. Staphylinid beetles rarely
contained fungal DNA, while Endomychus coccineus, Glischrochilus hortensis
and Glischrochilus quadripunctatus frequently carried fungal DNA with a
composition specific to the insect taxon. A large proportion of the
obtained fungal sequences (34%) represented decomposer fungi, including
well-known wood-decay fungi such as Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomes
fomentarius, Trichaptum abietinum and Trametes versicolor. Scanning
electron microscopy further showed that some of the fungal material was
carried as spores or yeast cells on the insect exoskeletons. Our results
suggest that insect-vectored dispersal is of broader importance to
wood-inhabiting fungi than previously assumed.