title: AM fungal communities inhabiting the roots of submerged aquatic plant Lobelia dortmanna are diverse and include a high proportion of novel taxa.
abstract: While the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is known to be widespread in terrestrial ecosystems, there is growing evidence that aquatic plants also form the symbiosis. It has been suggested that symbiosis with AM fungi may represent an important adaptation for isoëtid plants growing on nutrient-poor sediments in oligotrophic lakes. In this study, we address AM fungal root colonization intensity, richness and community composition (based on small subunit (SSU) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing) in five populations of the isoëtid plant species Lobelia dortmanna inhabiting oligotrophic lakes in Southern Sweden. We found that the roots of L. dortmanna hosted rich AM fungal communities and about 15 % of the detected molecular taxa were previously unrecorded. AM fungal root colonization intensity and taxon richness varied along an environmental gradient, being higher in oligotrophic and lower in mesotrophic lakes. The overall phylogenetic structure of this aquatic fungal community differed from that described in terrestrial systems: The roots of L. dortmanna hosted more Archaeosporaceae and fewer Glomeraceae taxa than would be expected based on global data from terrestrial AM fungal communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moora
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Maarja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Öpik
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davison
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia. teele.jairus@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Teele
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jairus
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Martti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasar
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zobel
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Life Sciences-Biology, Karlstad University, SE-651 88, Karlstad, Sweden.
authors.forename: R Lutz
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Eckstein
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D029746:Lobelia / Q000382:microbiology*; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology*; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal
keywords: Aquatic habitats; Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; MaarjAM; Molecular diversity