Community structures of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with pioneer grass species Miscanthus sinensis in acid sulfate soils : habitat segregation along pH gradients

An, Gi-Hong, Miyakawa, Sachie, Kawahara, Ai, Osaki, Mitsuru, Ezawa, Tatsuhiro

Acid sulfate soil shows extremely low-pH, and revegetation of the soil is difficult due to high concentration of toxic elements such as aluminum and poor nutrient availability. Community compositions of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that associate with Miscanthus sinensis, pioneer grass species in acid sulfate soil, were investigated to clarify environmental factors that regulate the community structure. The rhizosphere soils of M. sinensis grown in acid sulfate soil were collected from three sites that distributed in subarctic, temperate and subtropical zones in addition to those of the plants grown in a sandy soil site in a subarctic zone. M. sinensis seedlings were grown on these soils in a greenhouse for 2 months, and large subunit ribosomal RNA gene of the fungi was amplified from DNA extracted from the roots. Based on the nucleotide sequences of the gene, 20 phylotypes across 6 genera were detected from the four sites in total. The similarity indices of AM fungal communities among the sites did not correlate with geographical distance. Ordination analysis (principal component analysis) on the communities suggested that the first principal component reflected edaphic factors, particularly soil pH. Plotting of soil pH data at which respective phylotypes occurred and subsequent statistical analysis revealed that the ranges of preferential pH were significantly different among the phylotypes. The distribution of AM fungal phylotypes along pH gradients was further recognized by plotting the first principal component scores of the phylotypes against their preferential pH. The phylotypes that showed higher scores along the second principal 21 component were detected from three or more sites and occurred in a wide range of pH. These observations suggested that the preference and range of substrate pH to which the fungi could adapt were different among the phylotypes and thus soil pH might be a likely driving force for structuring AM fungal communities in acid sulfate soils.

Community structures of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with pioneer grass species Miscanthus sinensis in acid sulfate soils : habitat segregation along pH gradients

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