In this study, the abundance and composition of prokaryotic communities
associated with the inner tissue of fruiting bodies of Suillus bovinus,
Boletus pinophilus, Cantharellus cibarius, Agaricus arvensis, Lycoperdon
perlatum, and Piptoporus betulinus were analyzed using
culture-independent methods. Our findings indicate that archaea and
bacteria colonize the internal tissues of all investigated specimens and
that archaea are prominent members of the prokaryotic community. The
ratio of archaeal 16S rRNA gene copy numbers to those of bacteria was
>1 in the fruiting bodies of four out of six fungal species included
in the study. The largest proportion of archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences
belonged to thaumarchaeotal classes Terrestrial group, Miscellaneous
Crenarchaeotic Group (MCG), and Thermoplasmata. Bacterial communities
showed characteristic compositions in each fungal species. Bacterial
classes Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacilli, and Clostridia
were prominent among communities in fruiting body tissues. Bacterial
populations in each fungal species had different characteristics. The
results of this study imply that fruiting body tissues are an important
habitat for abundant and diverse populations of archaea and bacteria.