Fig. 4
Fungal networks facilitate the dispersal of Proteobacteria and shape the diversity of cheese rind communities. a Dispersal of various cheese rind bacteria on fungal networks. Data show change in dispersal distance (as measured from the center of the bacterial colony to the edge) on Mucor, Galactomyces, or Penicillium networks compared to growth alone after 14 days of growth. Dispersal assays were conducted on BHI agar. Bars are mean ±1 standard deviation (n = 3). Taxa indicated with a colored box were used in community experiments. b Principal coordinates analysis of relative abundance data from experimental communities on cheese curd agar with different fungal networks. “Input” indicates the input inoculum used to set up the experiment. The “No network” treatment included no fungus. Mucor, Galactomyces, and Penicillium treatments included living fungal networks of the respective fungi. Each community treatment was replicated five times. The addition of fungal networks shifted the composition of the bacterial communities compared to no network communities (PERMANOVA F = 72.14, p < 0.001). c Mean relative abundance (% of total CFUs) of bacteria within the experimental communities with different fungal networks after 14 days of growth. Treatments are the same as in b. d Mean relative abundance (% of total CFUs) of bacteria in control communities ("No network") and communities with a glass fiber network ("Synthetic network") after 14 days of growth. Synthetic networks shifted bacterial community composition compared to the no network controls (PERMANOVA F = 7.38, p < 0.01)
