Mixing tree species associated with arbuscular or ectotrophic mycorrhizae reveals dual mycorrhization and interactive effects on the fungal partners.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies found that the majority of shrub and tree species are associated with both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. However, our knowledge on how different mycorrhizal types interact with each other is still limited. We asked whether the combination of hosts with a preferred association with either AM or EM fungi increases the host tree roots' mycorrhization rate and affects AM and EM fungal richness and community composition.We established a tree diversity experiment, where five tree species of each of the two mycorrhiza types were planted in monocultures, two-species and four-species mixtures. We applied morphological assessment to estimate mycorrhization rates and next-generation molecular sequencing to quantify mycobiont richness.Both the morphological

SUBMITTER: Heklau H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8131788 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature