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樹木の生葉に由来する内生菌が枯死葉からも出現しその分解に関与することが知られている。本総説では、樹木の葉リターの分解に関わる内生菌の分類と生態を集約した。内生菌の葉リターにおける出現、定着、遷移、存続と、分解プロセスへの貢献についてまとめた。環境DNAを対象とした分子生物学的手法を用いた予備的な研究から、亜熱帯林と熱帯林の樹木葉でのリグニン分解に果たす内生菌の役割は小さいことが示唆された。, Endophytic fungi derived from live leaves of trees are known to occur on dead leaves and take part in the decomposition. In this review, we summarize the taxonomy and ecology of endophytic fungi associated with the decomposition of tree leaf litter. Topic include their occurrence, colonization, succession, and persistence on leaf litter and their contributions to the decomposition processes. A preliminary study applying molecular biological techniques targeting environmental DNA recently suggested minor roles of endophytic fungi in lignin decomposition of subtropical and tropical tree leaves.

Fungi play crucial roles in the decomposition of lignin in leaf litter, and fungal decomposition of lignin often leads to whitening, or bleaching, of leaf litter. The area of bleached portions on leaf surfaces was quantified along a climatic gradient at 15 sites in tropical, subtropical, and temperate evergreen forests in Asia and Australia. Bleached portions accounted for 3.5% to 30.8% on average of total leaf area and were significantly and positively correlated with mean annual temperature of the study sites. Another analysis showed that the number of tree species and stems whose leaf litter was bleached was higher in a subtropical forest than in a cool temperate or a subalpine forest. Fruiting bodies of eight fungal genera ([Coccomyces], [Lophodermium], and [Xylaria] in Ascomycota and [Crinipellis], [Gymnopus], [Marasmiellus], [Marasmius], and [Mycena] in Basidiomycota) were observed on the surface of bleached portions of leaf litter from a total of 78 tree species in 29 plant families collected in tropical and subtropical forests., 抄録中の[Coccomyces] [Lophodermium] [Xylaria] [Crinipellis] [Gymnopus] [Marasmiellus][Marasmius] [Mycena] は斜体文字