Higher host-plant specialization of root-associated endophytes than mycorrhizal fungi along an arctic elevational gradient

How community-level specialization differs among groups of organisms, and changes along environmental gradients, is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms influencing ecological communities. In this paper, we investigate the specialization of root-associated fungi for plant species, asking whether the level of specialization varies with elevation. For this, we applied DNA barcoding based on the ITS region to root samples of five plant species equivalently sampled along an elevational gradient at a high arctic site. To assess whether the level of specialization changed with elevation and whether the observed patterns varied between mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi, we applied a joint species distribution modeling approach. Our results show that host plant specialization is not environmentally constrained in arctic root-associated fungal communities, since there was no evidence for changing specialization with elevation, even if the composition of root-associated fungal communities changed substantially. However, the level of specialization for particular plant species differed among fungal groups, root-associated endophytic fungal communities being highly specialized on particular host species, and mycorrhizal fungi showing almost no signs of specialization. Our results suggest that plant identity affects associated mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi differently, highlighting the need of considering both endophytic and mycorrhizal fungi when studying specialization in root-associated fungal communities.Peer reviewe

Higher host-plant specialization of root-associated endophytes than mycorrhizal fungi along an arctic elevational gradient

How community-level specialization differs among groups of organisms, and changes along environmental gradients, is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms influencing ecological communities. In this paper, we investigate the specialization of root-associated fungi for plant species, asking whether the level of specialization varies with elevation. For this, we applied DNA barcoding based on the ITS region to root samples of five plant species equivalently sampled along an elevational gradient at a high arctic site. To assess whether the level of specialization changed with elevation and whether the observed patterns varied between mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi, we applied a joint species distribution modeling approach. Our results show that host plant specialization is not environmentally constrained in arctic root-associated fungal communities, since there was no evidence for changing specialization with elevation, even if the composition of root-associated fungal communities changed substantially. However, the level of specialization for particular plant species differed among fungal groups, root-associated endophytic fungal communities being highly specialized on particular host species, and mycorrhizal fungi showing almost no signs of specialization. Our results suggest that plant identity affects associated mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi differently, highlighting the need of considering both endophytic and mycorrhizal fungi when studying specialization in root-associated fungal communities.Peer reviewe

Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant

Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with observational field data throughout the range of a widespread short-lived herb, Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait-environment relationships. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns, but only when correcting traits for differences in biomass. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field-observed trait variation. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related to fitness

Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant

Publication history: Accepted - 19 May 2021; Published - 5 August 2021.Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with observational field data throughout the range of a widespread short-lived herb, Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait–environment relationships. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns, but only when correcting traits for differences in biomass. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field-observed trait variation. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related to fitness.Eesti Teadusagentuur, Grant/Award Number: PRG609 and PUT1409; Academy of Finland; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Science Foundation Ireland, Grant/Award Number: 15/ERCD/2803; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Grant/Award Number: IJCI-2017- 32039; European Regional Development Fun

The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on flower constancy in stingless bees

To enhance our understanding of the variability of flower constancy, we studied the influence of foraging conditions on the level of individual constancy in two species of stingless bees, Trigona dorsalis and Oxytrigona mellicolor, using a dimorphic artificial flower patch with equal reward in both flower types. Flower constancy increased greatly when the flower types were more dissimilar, and then approached constancy levels found for European honey bees. Sugar concentration had little effect on flower constancy. The presence of nestmates enhanced flower constancy somewhat in O. mellicolor but not in T. dorsalis, probably because of species-specific differences in local enhancement. The individual variability within treatments could be explained partly by individual variation in foraging tempo, with faster foraging leading to higher flower constancy

Accounting for environmental variation in co-occurrence modelling reveals the importance of positive interactions in root-associated fungal communities

Understanding the role of interspecific interactions in shaping ecological communities is one of the central goals in community ecology. In fungal communities, measuring interspecific interactions directly is challenging because these communities are composed of large numbers of species, many of which are unculturable. An indirect way of assessing the role of interspecific interactions in determining community structure is to identify the species co-occurrences that are not constrained by environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated co-occurrences among root-associated fungi, asking whether fungi co-occur more or less strongly than expected based on the environmental conditions and the host plant species examined. We generated molecular data on root-associated fungi of five plant species evenly sampled along an elevational gradient at a high arctic site. We analysed the data using a joint species distribution modelling approach that allowed us to identify those co-occurrences that could be explained by the environmental conditions and the host plant species, as well as those co-occurrences that remained unexplained and thus more probably reflect interactive associations. Our results indicate that not only negative but also positive interactions play an important role in shaping microbial communities in arctic plant roots. In particular, we found that mycorrhizal fungi are especially prone to positively co-occur with other fungal species. Our results bring new understanding to the structure of arctic interaction networks by suggesting that interactions among root-associated fungi are predominantly positive.Peer reviewe

Patterns and drivers of fungal disease communities on Arabica coffee along a management gradient

Plants, including those managed by humans, are often attacked by multiple diseases. Yet, most studies focus on single diseases, even if the disease dynamics of multiple species is more interesting from a farmers’ perspective. Moreover, most studies are from single management systems, although it is valuable to understand how diseases are distributed across broad management gradients, especially in cases where less intensive management also provides biodiversity values in the landscape. To understand the spatial dynamics and drivers of diseases across such a broad management gradient, we assessed the four major fungal diseases on Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) at 60 sites in southwestern Ethiopia along a gradient from only little managed wild coffee in the forest understory to intensively managed coffee plantations. We found that environmental and management factors related to disease incidence and severity differed strongly among the four fungal diseases. Coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and Armillaria root rot (Armillaria mellea) were more severe in intensively managed sites, whereas coffee berry disease (Colletotrichum kahawae) and wilt disease (Gibberella xylarioides) were more severe in less managed sites. Among sites, incidence and severity of the four fungal diseases poorly correlated with each other. Within sites, however, shrubs that were severely attacked by coffee leaf rust also had high levels of berry disease symptoms. A better understanding of disease dynamics is important for providing management recommendations that benefit smallholder farmers, but also to evaluate possibilities for maintaining biodiversity values in the landscape related to shade cover complexity and wild coffee genetic variation

The impact of dispersal, plant genotype and nematodes on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization

While the majority of parasitic and mutualistic microbes have the potential for long-range dispersal, the high turnover in community composition among nearby hosts has often been interpreted to reflect dispersal constraints. To resolve this apparent contradiction, we need further insights into the relative importance of dispersal limitation, host genotype and the biotic environment on the colonization process. We focused on the important root symbionts, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. We studied AM fungal colonization ability in a controlled mesocosm setting, where we placed Plantago lanceolata plants belonging to four different genotypes in sterile soil at 10, 30 and 70 cm from a central AM fungal inoculated P. lanceolata plant. In part of the mesocosms, we also inoculated the source plants with nematodes. AM fungi colonized receiver plants <1 m away over the course of ten weeks, with a strong effect of distance from source plant on AM fungal colonization. Plant genotype influenced AM fungal colonization during the early stages of colonization, while nematode inoculation had no effect on AM fungal colonization. Overall, the effect of both dispersal limitation and plant genetic variation may underlie the small-scale heterogeneity found in natural AM fungal communities.</p