Modularity reveals the tendency of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to interact differently with generalist and specialist plant species in gypsum soils
Patterns in plant-soil biota interactions could be influenced by the spatial distribution of species due to soil conditions or by the functional traits of species. Gypsum environments usually constitute a mosaic of heterogeneous soils where gypsum and nongypsum soils are imbricated at a local scale....
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Published in | Applied and Environmental Microbiology Vol. 80; no. 17; pp. 5457 - 5466 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
American Society for Microbiology
01.09.2014
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Patterns in plant-soil biota interactions could be influenced by the spatial distribution of species due to soil conditions or by the functional traits of species. Gypsum environments usually constitute a mosaic of heterogeneous soils where gypsum and nongypsum soils are imbricated at a local scale. A case study of the interactions of plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in gypsum environments can be illustrative of patterns in biotic interactions. We hypothesized that (i) soil characteristics might affect the AMF community and (ii) there are differences between the AMF communities (modules) associated with plants exclusive to gypsum soils (gypsophytes) and those associated with plants that show facultative behavior on gypsum and/or marly-limestone soils (gypsovags). We used indicator species and network analyses to test for differences between the AMF communities harbored in gypsophyte and gypsovag plants. We recorded 46 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to nine genera of Glomeromycota. The indicator species analysis showed two OTUs preferentially associating with gypsum soils and three OTUs preferentially associating with marly-limestone soils. Modularity analysis revealed that soil type can be a major factor shaping AMF communities, and some AMF groups showed a tendency to interact differently with plants that had distinct ecological strategies (gypsophytes and gypsovags). Characterization of ecological networks can be a valuable tool for ascertaining the potential influence of above- and below-ground biotic interactions (plant-AMF) on plant community composition. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0099-2240 1098-5336 1098-6596 |
DOI: | 10.1128/AEM.01358-14 |