Community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a primary successional volcanic desert on the southeast slope of Mount Fuji.
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.
Wu
Bingyun
B
Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan. bingyun@fr.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Hogetsu
Taizo
T
Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan.
Isobe
Katsunori
K
Department of Plant Science and Resources, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kameino 1866, Fujisawa-shi, 252-8510, Kanagawa, Japan.
Ishii
Ryuichi
R
Department of Plant Science and Resources, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kameino 1866, Fujisawa-shi, 252-8510, Kanagawa, Japan.
D000531:Altitude; D029422:Campanulaceae / Q000382:microbiology; D031180:Cirsium / Q000382:microbiology; D039324:Clematis / Q000382:microbiology; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003889:Desert Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038821:Mycorrhizae; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology; D031384:Polygonatum / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions / Q000032:analysis*
D004271:DNA, Fungal