title: Infection with a Shoot-Specific Fungal Endophyte (Epichloë) Alters Tall Fescue Soil Microbial Communities.
abstract: Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus) is a widespread grass that can form a symbiotic relationship with a shoot-specific fungal endophyte (Epichloë coenophiala). While the effects of fungal endophyte infection on fescue physiology and ecology have been relatively well studied, less attention has been given to how this relationship may impact the soil microbial community. We used high-throughput DNA sequencing and phospholipid fatty acid analysis to determine the structure and biomass of microbial communities in both bulk and rhizosphere soils from tall fescue stands that were either uninfected with E. coenophiala or were infected with the common toxic strain or one of several novel strains of the endophyte. We found that rhizosphere and bulk soils harbored distinct microbial communities. Endophyte presence, regardless of strain, significantly influenced soil fungal communities, but endophyte effects were less pronounced in prokaryotic communities. E. coenophiala presence did not change total fungal biomass but caused a shift in soil and rhizosphere fungal community composition, increasing the relative abundance of taxa within the Glomeromycota phylum and decreasing the relative abundance of genera in the Ascomycota phylum, including Lecanicillium, Volutella, Lipomyces, Pochonia, and Rhizoctonia. Our data suggests that tripartite interactions exist between the shoot endophyte E. coenophiala, tall fescue, and soil fungi that may have important implications for the functioning of soils, such as carbon storage, in fescue-dominated grasslands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.|Soil and Crop Nutrient Management, Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Beaumont, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jingqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Leff
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: McNear
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fierer
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. rebecca.mcculley@uky.edu.|N-222D Ag Science North, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546-0091, USA. rebecca.mcculley@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: McCulley
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D008411:Chytridiomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D060026:Endophytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D055329:Epichloe / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D031751:Festuca / Q000382:microbiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Epichloë coenophiala; Mycorrhizae; Neotyphodium; Plant-microbe interactions; Schedonorus arundinaceus; Soil microbes