Bacterial communities associated with Fomes fomentarius (white rot) and Fomitopsis betulina (brown rot) in dead standing birch (Betula papyrifera, Betulaceae, Angiosperms)

Fomes fomentarius (white rot) and Fomitopsis betulina (brown rot) are wood rot fungi that use distinct decomposition mechanisms to degrade lignocellulose. We wanted to understand if the difference in decomposition mechanisms affect the structure and composition of bacterial communities associated with these fungi in deadwood microenvironments. We collected 25 samples from dead standing birch trees (Betula papyrifera, Betulaceae, Angiosperms) that had F. fomentarius and F. betulina sporophores grown on them. Using high throughput amplicon sequencing, we explored bacterial communities associated with these two fungi in decomposed wood.