Highly competitive fungi manipulate bacterial communities in decomposing wood. Multi-site

The bacterial communities in decomposing wood are receiving increased attention, but their interactions with wood-decay fungi are poorly understood. This study examined bacterial communities in wood in a field context whilst experimentally manipulating the fungi initially present. Wood disks were precolonised in the lab by Vuilleminia comedens, Trametes versicolor or Hypholoma fasciculare. They was then placed (along with sterile uncolonised disks) in 6 deciduous woodland sites across the southern UK. Disks were collected after 1 year and the 16S rRNA genes sequenced using primers S-D-Bact-0341-b-S-17 (CCTACGGGNGGCWGCAG) and S-D-Bact-0785-a-A-21 (GACTACHVGGGTATCTAATCC) (Klindworth et al. 2013).