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Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with two co-occurring perennial plant species on a Tibetan altitudinal gradient

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Abstract

Plant communities on Mount Segrila on the Tibetan Plateau show distinct changes at different altitudes, but little information is available on belowground communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Root samples of two co-occurring species, Pennisetum centrasiaticum and Kobresia sp., growing in open grasslands at eight altitudes (3,446–4,556 m) were analyzed for diversity of AMF by PCR, cloning, and sequencing. Dominant plants were well colonized by AMF even at higher altitudes where spore density in rhizospheres decreased dramatically. A total of 29 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of AMF were detected, and some novel sequence types were found. Acaulosporaceae and Glomeraceae were the dominant families. There was no significant difference in OTU richness along elevational gradients in Kobresia sp., but OTU richness in P. centrasiaticum was higher at intermediate elevations. Elevation, host plant species, and soil variables (pH, soil organic matter, and available P and N) were found to have significant effects on the overall AMF community across all elevations. Fungal community composition differed significantly between the two plant species at each elevation, and the similarity was generally higher at the intermediate elevations. No significant difference in compositional similarity was observed for Kobresia sp. with increasing elevation, but the dissimilarity increased significantly for P. centrasiaticum. These results suggest that host identity is an important determinant for the structure of the AMF communities along the elevational gradients in high altitude environments.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21020106, 41161043, and the Innovative Group Grant 31121062) and PhD Programs Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (20100008110003) is acknowledged. We also thank Professor John Klironomos, University of British Columbia–Okanagan, Canada, for initiating the project. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Xiaoliang Li, Jingping Gai, Xiaolin Li, Peter Christie, Fusuo Zhang & Junling Zhang

  2. Agri-Environment Branch, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, BT9 5PX, UK

    Peter Christie

  3. Tibet Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College, Tibet University, Linzhi, 860000, Tibet

    Xiaobu Cai

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  1. Xiaoliang Li
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  2. Jingping Gai
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  3. Xiaobu Cai
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  4. Xiaolin Li
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  6. Fusuo Zhang
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  7. Junling Zhang
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Correspondence to Junling Zhang.

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Li, X., Gai, J., Cai, X. et al. Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with two co-occurring perennial plant species on a Tibetan altitudinal gradient. Mycorrhiza 24, 95–107 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-013-0518-7

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