Variable effects of ectomycorrhizal fungi on litter decomposition in temperate pine forests
To identify the ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi present across sites and treatments, total genomic DNA was extracted using Qiagen DNEasy PowerSoil kits. The ITS2 rDNA subunit was PCR amplified using a barcoded fungal-specific ITS5.8SFun-ITS4Fun primer set under cycling conditions detailed in Taylor et al. (2016). Amplified products were magnetically cleaned using the Agencourt AMPure XP kit and quantified using a Qubit dsDNA HS Fluorometer. Each of the samples were pooled into a single library and sequenced at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center using the 2 x 300 bp paired-end MiSeq Illumina platform.