The Biodiversity of Microfungi Isolated from the Bark of the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)

The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is a keystone species in Eastern North America. Despite this, taxonomic surveys enumerating the fungal populations of the bark of this tree species are lacking. Using traditional (direct observation and moist chambers) and high-throughput (particle filtration with dilution to extinction) culturing methods, this study examines the microfungi observed and isolated from A. saccharum bark and compares the efficiency of the different isolation methods employed. Bark collected from five different dead trees, from three distinct forests provide an insight on the feasibility of the high-throughput method in isolating microfungi from this substrate, an approach never previously experimented from A. saccharum bark. Commonly isolated taxa are discussed and compared to prior studies. Three novel species, which were commonly isolated, are described and compared to closely related taxa based on morphological and concatenated multi-gene phylogenetic analyses. Caveats and recommendations for future studies are discussed