Chapter 4
Sclerotia Grains as Bacterial Carriers
in Soil
Yaya Sasaki Nonoyama and Kazuhiko Narisawa
Abstract Fungal sclerotia are known to contain bacteria in their porous interiors.
Porous carrier substrates have been shown to support the effective functioning of
beneficial microbes inoculated to soil. In this chapter, we introduce experiments to
discover bacterial communities in Cenococcum geophilum (Cg) sclerotia and to
evaluate the efficacy of Cg sclerotia as bacterial carriers using Cg sclerotia grains
collected from Japanese Andosols. The basic knowledge obtained suggests that Cg
sclerotia could be used to design novel bacterial carriers. To this end, in addition to
analyzing microbes isolated from the insides of sclerotia collected from soil, we
inoculated autoclaved sclerotia with the isolated bacteria to compare their ability to
colonize sclerotia. The internal structure, ability to host diverse bacterial species, and
ease with which bacterial colonization can be controlled make sclerotia suitable
bacterial carriers in the environment.
Keywords Cenococcum geophilum sclerotia · Sphingomonas (Sphingobium) ·
Ralstonia pickettii · Bacterial carrier
4.1 Introduction
Sclerotia are persistent resting bodies of filamentous fungi formed in harsh environments. The structure of sclerotia enables survival under dry and cold conditions.
When environments become conducive to fungal growth, sclerotia serve as
Y. S. Nonoyama
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Tokyo, Japan
Present Address: Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan
University, Tokyo, Japan
K. Narisawa (*)
Department of Biological Production Science, College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University,
Amimachi, Ibaraki, Japan
e-mail: kazuhiko.narisawa.kkm@vc.ibaraki.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Watanabe (ed.), Sclerotia Grains in Soils, Progress in Soil Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4252-1_4
63
Sclerotia Grains as Bacterial Carriers
in Soil
Yaya Sasaki Nonoyama and Kazuhiko Narisawa
Abstract Fungal sclerotia are known to contain bacteria in their porous interiors.
Porous carrier substrates have been shown to support the effective functioning of
beneficial microbes inoculated to soil. In this chapter, we introduce experiments to
discover bacterial communities in Cenococcum geophilum (Cg) sclerotia and to
evaluate the efficacy of Cg sclerotia as bacterial carriers using Cg sclerotia grains
collected from Japanese Andosols. The basic knowledge obtained suggests that Cg
sclerotia could be used to design novel bacterial carriers. To this end, in addition to
analyzing microbes isolated from the insides of sclerotia collected from soil, we
inoculated autoclaved sclerotia with the isolated bacteria to compare their ability to
colonize sclerotia. The internal structure, ability to host diverse bacterial species, and
ease with which bacterial colonization can be controlled make sclerotia suitable
bacterial carriers in the environment.
Keywords Cenococcum geophilum sclerotia · Sphingomonas (Sphingobium) ·
Ralstonia pickettii · Bacterial carrier
4.1 Introduction
Sclerotia are persistent resting bodies of filamentous fungi formed in harsh environments. The structure of sclerotia enables survival under dry and cold conditions.
When environments become conducive to fungal growth, sclerotia serve as
Y. S. Nonoyama
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Tokyo, Japan
Present Address: Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan
University, Tokyo, Japan
K. Narisawa (*)
Department of Biological Production Science, College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University,
Amimachi, Ibaraki, Japan
e-mail: kazuhiko.narisawa.kkm@vc.ibaraki.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Watanabe (ed.), Sclerotia Grains in Soils, Progress in Soil Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4252-1_4
63