Community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a primary successional volcanic desert on the southeast slope of Mount Fuji

• Published in: Mycorrhiza Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 495 - 506
• Main Authors: Wu, Bingyun, Hogetsu, Taizo, Isobe, Katsunori, Ishii, Ryuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.09.2007; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acaulospora; Altitude; AMF; Biological and medical sciences; Campanulaceae - microbiology; Cirsium - microbiology; Clematis - microbiology; Community; Community structure; Desert Climate; Deserts; Diversity; DNA, Fungal - analysis; DNA, Fungal - isolation & purification; Ecosystem; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungi; Fungi - classification; Fungi - genetics; Fungi - isolation & purification; Fungi - physiology; Large ribosomal subunit RNA gene (LSU rDNA); Molecular Sequence Data; Mycorrhizae; Parasitism and symbiosis; Plant physiology and development; Plant Roots - microbiology; Plant species; Polygonatum - microbiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Primary succession; Roots; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Soil Microbiology; Species composition; Species diversity; Spores, Fungal - isolation & purification; Symbiosis; Terminal restriction fragment-length polymorphism (t-RFLP); Volcanic Eruptions - analysis; Community structure; Root; Phycomycetes; Ribosomal DNA; Acaulospora; Spores; Fungi; Species diversity; Altitude·AMF Diversity; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Gene; Mycorrhiza; Terminal restriction fragment-length polymorphism (t-RFLP); New species; Desert; Large ribosomal subunit RNA gene (LSU rDNA), Primary succession; Thallophyta; Altitude
• ISSN: 0940-6360; 1432-1890
• DOI: 10.1007/s00572-007-0114-9

Community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), evaluated as spore samples and mycorrhizal roots of four herbaceous plant species, was investigated at different altitudes in a primary successional volcanic desert on Mount Fuji using molecular methods (fragment and sequence analysis of the large ribosomal subunit RNA gene). In total, 17 different AMF clades were identified, and most were members of the Glomaceae, Acaulosporaceae, and Gigasporaceae. The AMF community structures detected by spore sampling were inconsistent with those from plant roots. Of all AMF clades, six (35.3%) were detected only on the basis of spores, six (35.3%) only in roots, and five corresponded to both spores and roots (29.4%). Although an Acaulospora species was the most dominant among spores (67.1%), it accounted for only 6.8% in root samples. A species analysis of AMF communities at different altitudes demonstrated that AMF species diversity increased as altitude decreased and that the species enrichment at lower altitudes resulted from the addition of new species rather than species replacement. The inconsistencies in the species composition of spore communities with those in roots and the change in species diversity with altitude are discussed.