Summary Increasing productivity is a key target in ruminant science which requires better understanding of the rumen microbiota. This study investigated how maternal versus artificial rearing shapes the rumen microbiota using 24 sets of triplet lambs. Lambs within each sibling set were randomly assigned to natural rearing on the ewe (NN); ewe colostrum for 24 h followed by artificial milk feeding (NA); and colostrum alternativ...

Summary Several lines of evidence suggest that the agaricoid, non‐ectomycorrhizal members of the family Hygrophoraceae (waxcaps) are biotrophic with unusual nitrogen nutrition. However, methods for the axenic culture and lab‐based study of these organisms remain to be developed, so our current knowledge is limited to field‐based investigations. Addition of nitrogen, lime or organophosphate pesticide at an experimental field si...

Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem‐based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and p...

The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ( ITS ) region is the formal fungal barcode and in most cases the marker of choice for the exploration of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Two problems are particularly acute in the pursuit of satisfactory taxonomic assignment of newly generated ITS sequences: (i) the lack of an inclusive, reliable public reference data set and (ii) the lack of means to refer to funga...

Summary Although typically cosseted in the laboratory with constant temperatures and plentiful nutrients, microbes are frequently exposed to much more stressful conditions in their natural environments where survival and competitive fitness depend upon both growth rate when conditions are favourable and on persistence in a viable and recoverable state when they are not. In order to determine the role of genetic heterogeneity i...

The agaric Crinipellis perniciosa (Tricholomataceae) is a hemibiotrophic pathogen which causes witches’ broom disease of cacao and has recently decimated the Brazilian cacao industry. In addition to the pathogenic cacao (C‐) biotype, other biotypes are found in association with unrelated plant taxa, notably bignoniaceous lianas (L‐biotype), solanaceous hosts (S ‐biotype), and the shrub Heteropterys acutifolia (H‐biotype). The...