Fungal community interactions in the Eucalyptus grandis phyllosphere

Abstract

In this thesis, “Fungal community interactions in the Eucalyptus grandis phyllosphere”, the promovendus used molecular approaches in a novel and powerful way to analyse the diversity and functions of Eucalyptus-inhabiting fungal communities. Highly diverse and metabolically active communities were discovered in healthy tissues of Eucalyptus trees using metabarcoding and metatranscriptomics data, and these were shown to differ in activity, but not diversity between resistant and susceptible clones. Fungal communities surrounding leaf galls of the insect pest, Leptocybe invasa, were shown to decrease in fungal diversity with increasing insect infestation level. Finally, using a genome wide association study approach, host gene regions were identified which associate with the diversity of its fungal community, paving the way to understanding the interaction between the host and fungal community at a more mechanistic level. This thesis lays a foundation for developing this system into a model for understanding tree-phyllosphere fungal communities.