Biscogniauxia nummularia (Bull.) Kuntze is a fungus which induces strip-cankers on beech, commonly referred to as charcoal canker. The symptoms of infection are visible on the host tree’s bark as elongated, blackish bark lesions on the trunk and branches. Recent years have shown that, due to climate change causing local epidemics, the species is increasing its economic impact in Mediterranean regions. Until recently, B. nummularia was considered rare and uncommon in central Europe. However, in the last few years it has been noticed more often, mostly in coniferous trees, which are out of B. nummularia’s host range. A similar situation has been observed with the closely related species Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze, which prior to 2017 had not been observed in central Europe at all. This study shows the genetic diversity of mid-European strains of Biscogniauxia spp. (based on the ITS, TEF1, TUB2 and ACT regions) and, as the first in Europe, presents a molecular investigation of this species isolated from coniferous trees. It is also the first attempt at estimating the potential impact of this pathogenic fungus on European forestry management in the close future.

Twelve Staphylococcus borealis strains, isolated in Canada and Poland from milk of cows with intramammary infections, were characterized phenotypically (biochemical reactions on ID 32 STAPH and Biolog Phenotype MicroArrays™ PM1 and PM2A, ability of biofilm production) and genotypically (random amplified polymorphic DNA). In addition, a genomic comparison was done with S. borealis strains of human and porcine origin using the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) technique. The bovine isolates showed a high degree of phenotypic and genotypic diversity, however, they could be differentiated from human strains by the negative test for urease (found in all but one bovine isolate examined with ID 32 STAPH) and positive reaction for D-galactose (on Biolog phenotype microarray PM1) and D-lactose (on both commercial systems). The MLST method, utilizing six concatenated genes of the total length of ∼2930 bp, revealed that bovine strains (irrespective of the country of origin) show a distinctly greater degree of mutual relationship than to the strains of human and porcine origin, suggesting that S. borealis has evolved independently in these hosts. In conclusion, bovine-specific S. borealis can be involved in intramammary infections in cattle.

In this paper, a lab-on-chip system dedicated to fungi cultivation in Earth’s gravity and simulated microgravity, being a solution that could be used in future nanosatellite missions, is shown. For the first time, a fully glass lab-on-chip structure enabling the proper environment for cultivation of fungi species—Fusarium culmorum—is presented. Apart from the biological validation of the fungi cultures with the use of the lab-on-chip system, tests were carried out under induced microgravity utilising a Rotary Wall Vessel. Correct functioning of the lab-on-chip system was obtained, enabling the growth of fungi spores both in ground and in simulated microgravity conditions. Interestingly, culturing tests have shown that microgravity stimulates the growth of fungi notably, compared to the ground-based experimentation performed simultaneously. The findings of this study can provide substantial new knowledge on microscopic fungi cultivation in lab-on-chip devices, other soil organisms, as well as a potential behavior of these species in microgravity conditions. Culturing system shown in this work can help mycologists to provide better understanding of microscopic fungi nature and their development mechanisms at a single spore level. This opens the way towards regular usage of microfluidic tools in agriculture and horticulture fields and more importantly, in future research on microscopic fungi in space, e.g., as a part of nanosatellite missions.

While it has been demonstrated that invasive alien plants pose a threat to co-occurring wild-growing native plants by attracting their pollinators, we know almost nothing about their impact on crop pollination. Alien plants with attractive flowers sometimes occur close to crops and may influence yields when they share the same pollinators and have overlapping flowering periods. We present the results of an experiment on the impact of alien balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) on the pollination of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme). We verified whether balsam decreases the number of insect visits to the tomato flowers or, conversely, whether balsam may have a positive influence on the pollination rate of the crop. We also assessed crop production with and without the insect visitors. The study was conducted in southern Poland under garden and greenhouse experimental conditions simulating small-scale cultivation of the crop with a neighbouring patch of the alien plant. The studied plants were exposed to insects visiting flowers of the following variants: only one of the two species was exposed or both species were exposed together. Moreover, two factors that may influence insect visits in flowers were assessed: the chemical composition of the floral scent that attracts insects and floral pathogens infesting pollinators that may deter them. The number of insect visits (mainly Bombus pascuorum) on the tomato flowers decreased significantly when the plants were exposed to the alien balsam. Moreover, alien balsam secreted more flower attractants (mainly fatty acids and their esters) than tomatoes, which could explain more frequent insect visits in balsam flowers. However, the floral pathogens probably had a negligible impact on the number of insect visits to the flowers of the two plants. The level of infestation on both studied species was relatively low (I. glandulifera: 5.1% of all pathogen colonies grown in a laboratory, S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme: 4.2% and 2.6% of all colonies in the garden and greenhouse, respectively) and we found no pathogens known to infect pollinators. It should be noted, however, that some of these pathogens (e.g. Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) are known to cause severe diseases in many crops. Our results revealed that the presence of attractive invasive alien species near small-scale cultivations may negatively affect crop pollination, resulting in smaller fruit size and irregular shape. The impact of such alien species on crop production and the agricultural economy on a large scale requires further study.

Intercropping of trees and classical crops has been proposed as a practice to help adapt to climate change and protect soil against erosion. However, the effects of intercropping on soil biology are not sufficiently quantified. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate microbiological changes in the soil resulting from the intercropping of Paulownia and buckwheat. A field experiment, involving an intercropping and control no-tree variant, was conducted from 2019 to 2022 with a plot size of 30 m². Buckwheat rhizosphere soil samples were collected twice in both 2021 and 2022 in order to evaluate the effects of intercropping on a range of parameters describing soil microbiome status: abundance of microorganisms, bacterial and fungal community structure (using Illumina MiSeq sequencing), dehydrogenases (DHA) activity, and total glomalin-related soil proteins (T-GRSP). In addition, the colonisation of buckwheat roots by fungi, yield, and biometric traits of the plant were determined. Next-generation sequencing showed that Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Acidobacteria were dominant in the microbiome of every variant of the experiment, regardless of the crop. In contrast, the mycobiome was dominated by fungi classified as Ascomycota and Mortierellomycota. This observation corresponded to an increase in buckwheat yield in intercropped plots. Biometric traits, namely buckwheat yield and total kernel weight per plant, showed higher values when buckwheat was intercropped with Paulownia compared to the control. DHA activity was stimulated by intercropping at the first sampling date, whereas glomalin concentration and abundance of microorganisms were not dependent on the cropping systems tested. This study shows that tree-based intercropping (TBI) systems promote a more diverse soil microbial community and function than conventional agriculture. Our results also suggest that TBI positively impacts buckwheat biometric traits, supporting its implementation in rural landscapes. The yield under intercropping cultivation amounted to 0.65 t ha⁻¹, while in control sites it was 0.53 t ha⁻¹. The total abundance of bacteria under intercropping cultivation was higher compared to monoculture in 2021 at the first term of sampling (4.3 × 10⁴) and in 2022 in the second term of soil sampling (4.6 × 10⁴).

The aim of the research was to check whether the healing of bark-stripping wounds of the silver fir tree trunks reduces the share of wood-decomposing fungi, which may be the result of inter-species interactions. The study carried out in Gorce National Park in Polish Western Carpathians analyzed drill holes of sapwood from three types of wounds (fresh, healed and old) on fir trunks with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 4.0–16.9 cm as a result of bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus). In the wood of fresh wounds Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl. and Arthrinium arundinis (Corda) Dyko & B. Sutton had the largest share in mycobiota. Phompsis spp. and the species Sydowia polyspora (Bref. & Tavel) E. Müll. and Epicoccum nigrum Link were also isolated. The dominants in old wounds were Eutypa spp., Phomopsis spp. and Cylindrobasidium evolvens (Fr.) Jülich. Healed wounds were dominated by Trichoderma atroviride P. Karst, a fungus antagonistic to many fungal pathogens. Such properties are shared by A. arundinis, especially common in fresh wound wood. It seems that these fungi support the process of wounded tree regeneration (healing of wounds) and limit the activity of wood-decaying fungi in old age, which makes fir survival very high. Thus, even a strong red deer pressure cannot be considered the basic factor determining the dynamics of fir in this part of the Carpathians.