Multiple interactions: Ambrosia Fungi ?Populus sp.?Megaplatypus mutatus

CERIANI, ESTEBAN; D´JONSILES, FERNANDA; DOLINKO, ANDRES; GONZALES AUDINO; C. C. CARMARAN

Buenos Aires

Simposio; 32 New Phytologist Symposium; 2013

New Phytologist

Species of the genus Populus (L.) have a high importance in the forest production carried out in Argentina. Several provinces of this country hold more than 63.500 forested hectares. This number is increased if we consider urban-windbreak poplars. Up to 99% of the commercial plantations belong to P. deltoides.Megaplatypus mutatus (Coleoptera: Platypodinae) is one of the most important forest pests, in commercial plantation. This ambrosia beetle, that attacks standing live trees, is native from South America and it has recently been introduced to Italy. The nature of the interaction between Ambrosia Fungi-Poplar-M. mutates and the role of the fungal community remains mostly unknown. In order to comprehend this multiple interaction, the diversity of fungal communities associated with tree and insect were evaluated and the galleries architecture was studied by computed tomography. Our data, based in morphological and molecular approach, showed a high diversity of fungal communities, with a few predominant species. The impacts of the obtained results in the frame of the pathogenic system are discussed.