Massively parallel 454‐sequencing of fungal communities in Quercus spp. ectomycorrhizas indicates seasonal dynamics in urban and rural sites

Abstract

We analysed two sites within and outside an urban development in a rural background to estimate the fungal richness, diversity and community composition in Quercus spp. ectomycorrhizas using massively parallel 454-sequencing in combination with DNAtagging. Our analyses indicated that shallow sequencing (150 sequences) of a large number of samples (192 in total) provided data that allowed identification of seasonal trends within the fungal communities: putative root-associated antagonists and saprobes that were abundant early in the growing season were replaced by common ectomycorrhizal fungi in the course of the growing season. Ordination analyses identified a number of factors that were correlated with the observed communities including host species as well as soil organic matter, nutrient and heavy metal enrichment. Overall, our application of the high throughput 454 sequencing provided an expedient means for characterization of fungal communities.

Vegetation Type and Age Drive Changes in Soil Properties, Nitrogen, and Carbon Sequestration in Urban Parks under Cold Climate

“…Besides plants, diverse microbial communities perform many transformations that control soil properties and provide diverse ecosystem services (Harris and Birch, 1989;Bell et al, 2005;Green and Bohannan, 2006), While these microbial communities govern soil biogeochemical cycles, the structure, activity and diversity of the soil biota are sensitive to a range of biotic and environmental factors (Colloff et al, 2008;Macdonald et al, 2009;Jumpponen et al, 2010). Soil microbes may directly respond to changes in soil geochemistry (Fierer and Jackson, 2006;Rousk et al, 2010), but may also differ among plant species, particularly in the rhizosphere (Grayston et al, 1998;Lothamer et al, 2014).…”

Comparison of root-associated communities of native and non-native ectomycorrhizal hosts in an urban landscape

“…The EcM communities were seasonally dynamic, differed in richness and diversity in early growing season and were comprised of members that were often unique to one host. While these and earlier data (Jumpponen et al 2010a) suggest low fungal richness and compositional shifts in urban EcM communities compared to surrounding non-urban environments, the functional consequences of these shifts remain unclear. Mycorrhizal fungi have diverse functions with a potential to facilitate nutrient uptake by accessing resources not readily available for the plants (Marschner and Dell 1994), improve drought tolerance (Lehto and Zwiazek 2011), increase disease resistance (Whipps 2004), and permit interplant transfer of nutrients through common mycelial networks (Simard and Durall 2004).…”

“…This research was motivated by our earlier effort that concluded that fungal communities associated with urban trees tend to be less species rich and compositionally distinct compared to adjacent non-urban trees (Jumpponen and Jones 2009;Jumpponen et al 2010a). Accordingly, our goal was to evaluate whether or not the choice of ornamental trees in such environments would further impact the resident fungal richness, diversity, or community composition.…”

“…Baxter et al 1999;Jumpponen and Jones 2010;Jumpponen et al 2010b), host selection is likely to be crucial to facultatively biotrophic organisms such as the EcM fungi (Kranabetter et al 1999;Jumpponen et al 2010a). The use of non-native species in urban ecosystems can have cascading effects.…”

“…Urbanization leads to severe soil disturbance and has been proposed to compromise the mycorrhizal communities by either reducing inoculum loads (Cousins et al 2003) and colonization (Baxter et al 1999;Timonen and Kauppinen 2008;Bainard et al 2011;Karpati et al 2011) or by rearranging the fungal community composition (Baxter et al 1999;Jumpponen et al 2010a, Karpati et al 2011). The reduced inoculum potential and colonization in urban environments are likely attributable to challenging urban environments -compacted and often salt or heavy metal enriched urban soils (Pouyat and McDonnell 1991;Kaye et al 2006;Polanco et al 2008;Pavao-Zuckerman 2008) can compromise plant performance and hinder mycorrhizal colonization.…”