Nemadodzi Lufuno Ethel, Prinsloo Gerhard
Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa.
ABBERU, Science Campus, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1710, South Africa.
Microorganisms. 2023 Jul 24;11(7):1864. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11071864.
is a tree found in savannah and woodland in southern Africa, as well as northwards into tropical African regions as far as Nigeria and Ethiopia. It is used as fuel wood, medicinally to treat various conditions, such as toothache, headache, migraine, pain, inflammation, and sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhoea, but also an ornamental tree. The current study investigated the possible symbiotic relationship between trees and the caterpillars and the mutual role played in ensuring the survival of . trees/seedlings in harsh natural conditions and low-nutrient soils. Deoxyribonucleic acid isolation and sequencing results revealed that the fungal species was highly predominant in the leaves of . trees and present in the caterpillars. The second most prominent fungal species in the caterpillars was . The latter is known to be related to a sp. which was found to be highly prevalent in the soil where trees grow and is suggested to play a role in enhancing the effective growth of . trees in their natural habitat. To support this, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted, and a tree was constructed, which shows a high percentage similarity between and sp. The findings of the study revealed that trees not only serve as a source of feed for the caterpillar but benefit from caterpillars which, after dropping onto the soil, is proposed to inoculate the soil surrounding the trees with the fungus which suggests a symbiotic and/or synergistic relationship between trees and caterpillars.
是一种生长在非洲南部大草原和林地的树，向北延伸至热带非洲地区，远至尼日利亚和埃塞俄比亚。它被用作薪柴，在医学上用于治疗各种病症，如牙痛、头痛、偏头痛、疼痛、炎症以及性传播疾病，如淋病，同时也是一种观赏树。当前的研究调查了该树与毛虫之间可能存在的共生关系，以及在恶劣自然条件和低营养土壤中确保该树/树苗存活所发挥的相互作用。脱氧核糖核酸分离和测序结果显示，该真菌物种在该树的叶子中高度占主导地位，并且存在于毛虫体内。毛虫体内第二突出的真菌物种是。后者已知与一种在该树生长的土壤中高度普遍存在的物种有关，并且被认为在促进该树在其自然栖息地的有效生长中发挥作用。为了支持这一点，进行了系统发育分析并构建了一棵树，其显示与物种之间具有高度相似性。该研究的结果表明，该树不仅作为毛虫的食物来源，而且受益于毛虫，毛虫掉落到土壤上后，被认为会用真菌为树周围的土壤接种，这表明该树与毛虫之间存在共生和/或协同关系。
