Fungal Pathogen Communities in International Sentinel Tree Plantings

High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) revealed thousands of potential fungal pathogens in reciprocal sentinel tree plantings across three continents, with many found in asymptomatic leaves. The dataset, authored by Isabel Alvarez Munck and last updated in May 2026, underscores the limitations of symptom-based inspections for plant biosecurity. Geographic location and tree species were the strongest predictors of fungal community structure, while seasonality also significantly shaped pathogen assemblages.

Use Cases

• Comparing pathogen detection efficacy between High Throughput Sequencing and classical isolation-based methods.
• Modeling fungal community structure based on geographic location and host tree species.
• Investigating latent or epiphytic colonization by pathogens like Fusarium equiseti and Verticillium dahliae in asymptomatic plants.
• Analyzing seasonal variation in pathogen assemblages across sentinel planting sites.
• Informing policy for National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) on harmonized phytosanitary actions.

Strengths

• Data generated from reciprocal sentinel plantings across three continents, providing a multi-geographic perspective.
• Findings based on High Throughput Sequencing, which greatly expanded pathogen detection compared to classical methods.
• Analysis includes multi-season sampling, revealing distinct pathogen communities between early and late-season.

Limitations

• Dataset scope is limited to a 22.5 KB DOCX file, suggesting it may contain summary results rather than raw sequence data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative modeling.

Provenance

Source

Isabel Alvarez Munck via figshare

Collection Method

High Throughput Sequencing of foliar fungal communities from reciprocal ex patria sentinel plantings.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 05:29:03

Geography

Reciprocal plantings across three continents; specific locations not detailed.