The role of inoculum dispersal and plant species identity in the assembly of leaf endophytic fungal communities.

ABSTRACT: Because of disturbance and plant species loss at the local level, many arid ecosystems in the western USA benefit from revegetation. There is a growing interest in improving revegetation success by purposefully inoculating revegetation plants with mutualistic endophytic fungi that increase plant stress tolerance. However, inoculant fungi must compete against fungi that indigenous to the habitat, many of which may not be mutualistic. Our overall goal, therefore, is to learn how to efficiently colonize revegetation plants using endophytic fungal inoculum. The goal will be facilitated by understanding the factors that limit colonization of plants by endophytic fungi, including inoculum dispersal and host compatibility. We analyzed endophytic fungal communities in leaves of Bromus tectorum and

SUBMITTER: Ricks KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6640817 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature