Diversity of fungi associated with roots of Eucalyptus gomphocephala seedlings grown in soil from healthy and declining sites

We used molecular profiling with 454 pyrosequencing to identify ectomycorrhizal, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and other fungal communities associated with containerized Eucalyptus gomphocephala seedling roots. We found a higher proportion of ectomycorrizal fungi associated with seedling roots grown in soil collected from sites with healthy trees, and of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from seedling roots grown in soil collected from sites with declining trees. We also found a relatively high proportion of pathogenic fungi present in roots from declining sites compared to healthy sites. This research should be extended to the field to further investigate mycorrhizal and pathogenic fungal populations associated with tree declines.