Mutualism breakdown in breadfruit domestication.

ABSTRACT: During the process of plant domestication, below-ground communities are rarely considered. Some studies have attempted to understand the changes in root symbionts owing to domestication, but little is known about how it influences mycorrhizal response in domesticated crops. We hypothesized that selection for above-ground traits may also result in decreased mycorrhizal abundance in roots. Breadfruit (Artocarpus sp.) has a long domestication history, with a strong geographical movement of cultivars from west to east across the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. Our results clearly show a decrease in arbuscular mycorrhizas (AMs) along a domestication gradient from wild to recently derived cultivars. We showed that the vesicular and arbuscular colonization rate decreased significantly in more

SUBMITTER: Xing X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3267145 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature