Journal
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY
Volume 23, Issue 6, Pages 1364-1378Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/mec.12541
Keywords
Helotiales; ITS; endophytes; 454 pyrosequencing; root fungi; nitrogen deposition
Funding
- Mycological Society of America
- Fungal Environmental Sampling and Informatics Network
- [NSF-0919510]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1027341] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1026415, 0919510] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Nitrogen (N) deposition rates are increasing globally due to anthropogenic activities. Plant community responses to N are often attributed to altered competitive interactions between plants, but may also be a result of microbial responses to N, particularly root-associated fungi (RAF), which are known to affect plant fitness. In response to N, Deschampsia cespitosa, a codominant plant in the alpine tundra at Niwot Ridge (CO), increases in abundance, while Geum rossii, its principal competitor, declines. Importantly, G.rossii declines with N even in the absence of its competitor. We examined whether contrasting host responses to N are associated with altered plant-fungal symbioses, and whether the effects of N are distinct from effects of altered plant competition on RAF, using 454 pyrosequencing. Host RAF communities were distinct (only 9.4% of OTUs overlapped). N increased RAF diversity in G.rossii, but decreased it in D.cespitosa. D.cespitosa RAF communities were more responsive to N than G.rossii RAF communities, perhaps indicating a flexible microbial community aids host adaptation to nutrient enrichment. Effects of removing D.cespitosa were distinct from effects of N on G.rossii RAF, and D.cespitosa presence reversed RAF diversity response to N. The most dominant G.rossii RAF order, Helotiales, was the most affected by N, declining from 83% to 60% of sequences, perhaps indicating a loss of mutualists under N enrichment. These results highlight the potential importance of belowground microbial dynamics in plant responses to N deposition.
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