However, binomial tests indicated that time was a factor involved in the separation of the five species analyzed. The contribution of seasonal variation to fungal community variation has previously been recognized.

Endophytic colonization of tropical cacao trees increased with leaf age and partially protected the host against pathogenic Phytophthora sp. [42]. Similarly, endophytic diversity increased during leaf development in Camellia japonica, whereas HDAC inhibition epiphytic diversity remained stable with season [43]. Seasonal succession was also demonstrated for the mycoflora in a Colorado mountain soil that changed substantially between spring and summer, suggesting functional differentiation [44]. Seasonal variation has been found in an aquatic fungal community decomposing plant debris in streams [45]. In reed stands at Lake Constance, Oomycota populations were shown previously to exhibit seasonal variation [46]. For the reed pathogen Pythium phragmitis, minimal detection in August resembled the decrease of Microdochium spp. during the summer. Temporal niche differentiation thus contributes to the separation of the five species examined, although to a lesser extent than space. Thus, niche differences resulting from abiotic or biotic attributes seem to separate these fungi and may explain their coexistence on the same host. Temperature was one attribute that distinguished

the two Microdochium species in vitro. C188-9 datasheet M. phragmitis, which occurs more frequently at flooded sites, grows faster

at lower temperatures, whereas M. bolleyi, which prefers dry sites, grows faster at higher temperatures. For most of the year, based on the in vitro growth rates, temperatures existed in the soil at which M. phragmitis would grow faster than M. bolleyi if additional factors such as competing fungi are not considered. In this context, temperature contributes to the differentiation of other Microdochium species [47, 48]. Other attributes Urocanase may be involved in spatial niche differentiation for habitat type observed for Microdochium spp. Carbon usage patterns of the two species were found to overlap significantly more than expected by chance, although certain substrates, including compounds of the central carbon metabolism, secondary sugars, and sugar alcohols, are utilized differentially. In P. australis site-dependent variations for central metabolites were reported [49]. Basal culm internodes from flooded sites had higher total amino acid and lower total carbohydrate contents than those from dry sites. Several metabolites were individually recorded in that study, but none of those varying for habitat type could explain the contrasting habitat preferences of the two Microdochium species when considering the results of the BIOLOG experiments. Earlier studies have noted that host-derived carbohydrates might affect the occurrences of plant-associated fungi.