Host identity impacts rhizosphere fungal communities associated with three alpine plant species

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Issue Date
2012Author
Becklin, Katie M.
Hertweck, Kate L.
Jumpponen, Ari
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Fungal diversity and composition are still relatively unknown in many ecosystems; however, host
identity and environmental conditions are hypothesized to influence fungal community assembly. To
test these hypotheses we characterized the richness, diversity, and composition of rhizosphere fungi
colonizing three alpine plant species, Taraxacum ceratophorum, Taraxacum officinale, and Polemonium
viscosum. Roots were collected from open meadow and willow understory habitats at treeline on
Pennsylvania Mountain, Colorado, USA. Fungal small subunit ribosomal DNA was sequenced using
fungal-specific primers, sample-specific DNA tags, and 454 pyrosequencing. We classified operational
taxonomic units (OTUs) as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) or non-arbuscular mycorrhizal (non-AMF) fungi,
then tested whether habitat or host identity influenced these fungal communities. Approximately 14%
of the sequences represented AMF taxa (44 OTUs) with the majority belonging to Glomus group A and B.
NON-AMF sequences represented 186 OTUs belonging to Ascomycota (58%), Basidiomycota (26%),
Zygomycota (14%), and Chytridiomycota (2%) phyla. Total AMF and non-AMF richness were similar
between habitats, but varied among host species. AMF richness and diversity per root sample also
varied among host species and were highest in T. ceratophorum compared to T. officinale and P.
viscosum. In contrast, non-AMF richness and diversity per root sample were similar among host species
except in the willow understory where diversity was reduced in T. officinale. Fungal community
composition was influenced by host identity, but not habitat. Specifically, T. officinale hosted a different
AMF community than T. ceratophorum and P. viscosum, while P. viscosum hosted a different non-AMF
community than T. ceratophorum and T. officinale. Our results suggest that host identity has a stronger
effect on rhizosphere fungi than habitat. Furthermore, although host identity influenced both AMF and
non-AMF this effect was stronger for the mutualistic AMF community.
Description
This is the author’s accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. For the publisher’s version go to http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9968-7. NOTE: The supplementary materials referred to in the text are available for download separately, below.
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Citation
Becklin KM, Hertweck KL, and Jumpponen A. 2012. Host identity impacts rhizosphere fungal communities associated with three alpine plant species. Microbial Ecology 63:682-693. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9968-7
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