Pyrola japonica, a partially mycoheterotrophic Ericaceae, has mycorrhizal preference for russulacean fungi in central Japan.
Mycorrhizal symbiosis often displays low specificity, except for mycoheterotrophic plants that obtain carbon from their mycorrhizal fungi and often have higher specificity to certain fungal taxa. Partially mycoheterotrophic (or mixotrophic, MX) plant species tend to have a larger diversity of fungal partners, e.g., in the genus Pyrola (Monotropoideae, Ericaceae). Preliminary evidence however showed that the Japanese Pyrola japonica has preference for russulacean fungi based on direct sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from a single site. The present study challenges this conclusion using (1) sampling of P. japonica in different Japanese regions and forest types and (2) fungal identification by ITS cloning. Plants were sampled from eight sites in three regions, in one of which the fungal community on tree ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tips surrounding P. japonica was also analyzed. In all, 1512 clone sequences were obtained successfully from 35 P. japonica plants and 137 sequences from ECM communities. These sequences were collectively divided into 74 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) (51 and 33 MOTUs, respectively). MOTUs from P. japonica involved 36 ECM taxa (96 % of all clones), and 17 of these were Russula spp. (76.2 % of all clones), which colonized 33 of the 35 sampled plants. The MOTU composition significantly differed between P. japonica and ECM tips, although shared species represented 26.3 % of the ECM tips community in abundance. This suggests that P. japonica has a preference for russulacean fungi.
Laboratory of Forest Mycology, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Kurimamachiya 1577, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan.
Takashi
T
Uesugi
Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University, Kurimamachiya 1577, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan.
Miho
M
Nakano
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB - UMR 7205 - CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP50, 75005, Paris, France.|Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308, Gdansk, Poland.
Marc-André
MA
Selosse
Laboratory of Forest Mycology, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Kurimamachiya 1577, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan.|Department of Forest Microbiology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan.
Keisuke
K
Obase
Laboratory of Forest Mycology, Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Kurimamachiya 1577, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan. m-yosuke@bio.mie-u.ac.jp.
Yosuke
Y
Matsuda
D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D007564:Japan; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D031828:Pyrola / Q000382:microbiology*
Arbutoid mycorrhiza; Cloning; ITS barcoding; Mycorrhizal specificity; Pyroloid mycorrhiza; Russula