Within-species phylogenetic relatedness of a common mycorrhizal fungus affects evenness in plant communities through effects on dominant species.

ABSTRACT: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to influence plant community structure and diversity. Studies based on single plant-single AMF isolate experiments show that within AMF species variation leads to large differential growth responses of different plant species. Because of these differential effects, genetic differences among isolates of an AMF species could potentially have strong effects on the structure of plant communities. We tested the hypothesis that within species variation in the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis significantly affects plant community structure and plant co-existence. We took advantage of a recent genetic characterization of several isolates using double-digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq). This allowed us to test not only for the

SUBMITTER: Savary R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6248901 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature