title: Diversity of fungal assemblages in roots of Ericaceae in two Mediterranean contrasting ecosystems.
abstract: The plants belonging to the Ericaceae family are morphologically diverse and widely distributed groups of plants. They are typically found in soil with naturally poor nutrient status. The objective of the current study was to identify cultivable mycobionts from roots of nine species of Ericaceae (Calluna vulgaris, Erica arborea, Erica australis, Erica umbellate, Erica scoparia, Erica multiflora, Arbutus unedo, Vaccinium myrtillus, and Vaccinium corymbosum). The sequencing approach was used to amplify the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. Results from the phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences stored in the Genbank confirmed that most of strains (78) were ascomycetes, 16 of these were closely related to Phialocephala spp, 12 were closely related to Helotiales spp and 6 belonged to various unidentified ericoid mycorrhizal fungal endophytes. Although the isolation frequencies differ sharply according to regions and ericaceous species, Helotiales was the most frequently encountered order from the diverse assemblage of associated fungi (46.15%), especially associated with C. vulgaris (19.23%) and V. myrtillus (6.41%), mostly present in the Loge (L) and Mellousa region (M). Moreover, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) showed three distinct groups connecting fungal order to ericaceous species in different regions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire "Écologie et Environnement" (unité associée au CNRST, URAC32), Faculté des sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi-Ayyad, Marrakech, Morocco; Institut national de la recherche agronomique, (INRA), Morocco.
authors.forename: Ahlam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamim
authors.affiliation: Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, France.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Miché
authors.affiliation: Institut national de la recherche agronomique, (INRA), Morocco.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Douaik
authors.affiliation: Institut national de la recherche agronomique, (INRA), Morocco.
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mrabet
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire "Écologie et Environnement" (unité associée au CNRST, URAC32), Faculté des sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi-Ayyad, Marrakech, Morocco.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ouhammou
authors.affiliation: Institut de recherche pour le développement, UMR 113, Laboratoire des symbioses tropicales et méditerranéennes, campus CIRAD de Baillarguet, TA-A 82/J, 34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duponnois
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire "Écologie et Environnement" (unité associée au CNRST, URAC32), Faculté des sciences Semlalia, Université Cadi-Ayyad, Marrakech, Morocco. Electronic address: hafidi.ucam@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hafidi
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017753:Ecosystem; D029791:Ericaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D009018:Morocco; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Ericaceous shrubs; Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi; Helotiales; Multiple correspondence analysis; Phialocephala fortinii