Serpentine soils do not limit mycorrhizal fungal diversity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Physiologically stressful environments tend to host depauperate and specialized biological communities. Serpentine soils exemplify this phenomenon by imposing well-known constraints on plants; however, their effect on other organisms is still poorly understood.

Methodology/principal findings

We used a combination of field and molecular approaches to test the hypothesis that serpentine fungal communities are species-poor and specialized. We conducted surveys of ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity from adjacent serpentine and non-serpentine sites, described fungal communities using nrDNA Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) fragment and sequence analyses, and compared their phylogenetic community structure. Although we detected low fungal overlap across the two habitats,

SUBMITTER: Branco S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2909254 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature