title: Ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with two species of Kobresia in an alpine meadow in the eastern Himalaya.
abstract: The diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) on Kobresia filicina and Kobresia capillifolia in an alpine meadow in China's southwestern mountains, one of the word's hotspots of biodiversity, was estimated based on internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequence analysis of root tips. Seventy EMF operational taxonomical units (OTUs) were found in the two plant species. Dauciform roots with EMF were detected in species of Kobresia for the first time. OTU richness of EMF was high in Tomentella/Thelophora and Inocybe, followed by Cortinarius, Sebacina, the Cenococcum geophilum complex, and Russula. Tomentella/Thelophora and Inocybe were general and dominant mycobiont genera of the two sedges. Besides the C. geophilum complex, the ascomycete components Hymenoscyphus and Lachnum were also detected on the two plants. Alpine plants in different geographical regions share similar main genera and/or families of EMF while harboring predominantly different mycobiont species; most of the members detected by us have not been found elsewhere. Significant differences in the profile of EMF occurrences were not found between the two plant species and among the three sampling seasons in our sample size.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650204, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Zhu L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D029785:Cyperaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000254:growth & development*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer