Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy.
1DI4A, Department of Agri-Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, via delle Scienze 206, 33100, Udine, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 14;13(1):19918. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46006-1.
Many mushroom-forming fungi can develop circular colonies affecting the vegetation in a phenomenon named fairy rings. Since the nineteenth century, several hypotheses have been proposed to explain how fairy ring fungi form ring-like shapes instead of disks and why they produce negative or positive effects on the surrounding vegetation. In this context, we present a novel process-based mathematical model aimed at reproducing the mycelial spatial configuration of fairy rings and test different literature-supported hypotheses explaining the suppressive and stimulating effects of fungi on plants. Simulations successfully reproduced the shape of fairy rings through the accumulation of fungal self-inhibitory compounds. Moreover, regarding the negative effects of fungi on vegetation, results suggest that fungal-induced soil hydrophobicity is sufficient to reproduce all observed types of fairy rings, while the potential production of phytotoxins is not. In relation to the positive effects of fungi on plants, results show that the release of phytostimulants is needed to reproduce the vegetation patterns associated to some fairy ring types. Model outputs can guide future experiments and field work to corroborate the considered hypotheses and provide more information for further model improvements.
许多形成蘑菇的真菌可以在一种被称为仙女环的现象中形成圆形菌落，从而影响植被。自 19 世纪以来，人们提出了几种假说来解释为什么仙女环真菌形成环状而不是盘状，以及它们为什么对周围植被产生负面或正面的影响。在这方面，我们提出了一种新的基于过程的数学模型，旨在再现仙女环真菌的菌丝体空间配置，并测试不同文献支持的假说，以解释真菌对植物的抑制和刺激作用。模拟成功地通过积累真菌自抑制化合物再现了仙女环的形状。此外，关于真菌对植被的负面影响，结果表明，真菌诱导的土壤疏水性足以再现所有观察到的仙女环类型，而潜在的植物毒素产生则不是。关于真菌对植物的正面影响，结果表明，需要释放植物刺激素来再现与某些仙女环类型相关的植被模式。模型输出可以指导未来的实验和野外工作，以证实所考虑的假说，并为进一步的模型改进提供更多信息。
