Segmented co-infection of tree bark by different fungus

Co-existence of microbes in a community is the de facto state of microbial lifestyle in almost all niches on Earth. Thus, microbes live with other microbial species in close proximity, and evolution has selected for specific methods of communication between microbes that facilitated chemical cross-talk for understanding the identities of different microbes, and their relative antagonistic behaviour towards each other. Observation of different patches of dark and white on a tree bark highlights possible segmented co-infection of the bark with at least two different species of fungi. Although without clear boundary of separation between patches, antagonistic behaviour between the two species could not be ruled out. Other forms of interactions such as mutualism and symbiosis between the different fungal species could be elucidated with time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) profiling of the biomolecules and chemicals mediating the communication highway between the microbes, whose identities could be determined by 16S rRNA sequencing.