A metabarcoding protocol targeting two DNA regions to analyze root-associated fungal communities in ferns and lycophytes.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Detailed studies of the fungi associated with lycophytes and ferns provide crucial insights into the early evolution of land plants. However, most investigations to date have assessed fern-fungus interactions based only on visual root inspection. In the present research, we establish and evaluate a metabarcoding protocol to analyze the fungal communities associated with fern and lycophyte roots.

Methods

We used two primer pairs focused on the ITS rRNA region to screen the general fungal communities, and the 18S rRNA to target Glomeromycota fungi (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). To test these approaches, we collected and processed roots from 12 phylogenetically distant fern and lycophyte species.

Results

We found marked compositional differences between th

SUBMITTER: Guillen-Otero T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10278937 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature