Abstract
Aims
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are intimately associated with fine roots and are involved in nutrient acquisition. However, little information is available on the links between roots of individual orders and fungus colonization and community structure. Our aim was to elucidate AM fungal communities in the fine root systems of the temperate coniferous tree species, Cryptomeria japonica (Cupressaceae).
Methods
We characterized the morphological traits of AM fungi microscopically and determined the community structure of AM fungi using metabarcoding with an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) focusing on lower-order roots from first to third order roots.
Results
Paris-type and Arum-type AM morphologies were both generally more prevalent on first-order roots than on second- or third-order roots, but the colonization rates by the Paris type were higher than those by the Arum type. We found a total of 48 fungal operational taxonomic units dominated by Glomeraceae, and all the AM taxa detected on third order roots were also found on first and/or second order roots. In the case of the second and third orders, AM fungal communities were affected by soil conditions: electrical conductivity, pH, and N concentration.
Conclusion
These results suggest that the abundance and species richness of AM fungi vary among lower root order systems, and that the AM community is sensitive to soil conditions and turns over as roots age.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Keisuke Obase (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute) for valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We acknowledge the valuable comments and feedback provided by the editor and three anonymous reviewers. We also thank the officers of the various prefectures for permission to access the study sites; T. Chikada and the staff of the Life Science Research Center, Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Mie University for helping with the DNA analyses; and staff of the Laboratory of Forest Mycology at Mie University for their support with the field sampling. This study was supported in part by a KAKENHI (18H02237, 21H02232) grant to Y.M.
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Y.M. planned and designed the study; all authors conducted fieldwork; K.K., T.T. and Y.K. performed laboratory measurements (soil chemistry, microscopy, and DNA extraction and sequencing); Y.M. and Y.K. performed the data analyses; Y.M. wrote the first draft of the manuscript; and all authors discussed and contributed to the final version of paper.
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DNA sequences: Genbank accessions LC550571-LC551791; DDBJ DRA: DRA011250.
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Matsuda, Y., Kita, K., Kitagami, Y. et al. Colonization status and community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the coniferous tree, Cryptomeria japonica, with special reference to root orders. Plant Soil 468, 423–438 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05147-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05147-w