ena-STUDY-UNIVERSITY OF TARTU-31-08-2017-11:59:53:687-289
Soybean cultivation inhabits diverse arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community in central Argentina
The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is a key plant-microbe interaction in sustainable functioning ecosystems. Increasing land use intensity poses a threat to AM fungal communities, but there is little empirical evidence about the impact of agricultural land use on AM fungal communities in many regions and cultivation types. During the last few decades, cultivation of soybean has increased worldwide. Argentina has become one of the major producers of soybean. We addressed the diversity and taxon composition of AM fungal communities in soybean fields in central Argentina, compared to natural Espinal forest under similar environmental conditions. We sequenced AM fungal DNA from root and soil samples collected from pairs of soybean field and intact forest ecosystems. We found that although AM fungal diversity tended to be lower in samples collected from the soybean field, total number of AM fungal taxa was similar between agricultural and forest ecosystem. Roots of soybean plants were colonized by diverse communities of AM fungi. AM fungal community composition in roots was primarily driven by host plant identity, but land use type (soybean field versus Espinal forest) was an important determinant of community composition as well. Anthropogenic land use increased the proportion of easily cultured AM fungal taxa, probably due to their efficient colonization strategies and better ability to recover from disturbance. Cultivation of soybean has thus changed AM fungal communities in terms of both diversity and functional attributes, but the diverse AM fungal communities are still present, probably due to the relatively low level of fertilizer use.
The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is a key plant-microbe interaction in sustainable functioning ecosystems. Increasing land use intensity poses a threat to AM fungal communities, but there is little empirical evidence about the impact of agricultural land use on AM fungal communities in many regions and cultivation types. During the last few decades, cultivation of soybean has increased worldwide. Argentina has become one of the major producers of soybean. We addressed the diversity and taxon composition of AM fungal communities in soybean fields in central Argentina, compared to natural Espinal forest under similar environmental conditions. We sequenced AM fungal DNA from root and soil samples collected from pairs of soybean field and intact forest ecosystems. We found that although AM fungal diversity tended to be lower in samples collected from the soybean field, total number of AM fungal taxa was similar between agricultural and forest ecosystem. Roots of soybean plants were colonized by diverse communities of AM fungi. AM fungal community composition in roots was primarily driven by host plant identity, but land use type (soybean field versus Espinal forest) was an important determinant of community composition as well. Anthropogenic land use increased the proportion of easily cultured AM fungal taxa, probably due to their efficient colonization strategies and better ability to recover from disturbance. Cultivation of soybean has thus changed AM fungal communities in terms of both diversity and functional attributes, but the diverse AM fungal communities are still present, probably due to the relatively low level of fertilizer use.