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Fungal Diversity, Dominance, and Community Structure in the Rhizosphere of Clonal Picea mariana Plants Throughout Nursery Production Chronosequences

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Abstract

Fungal diversity in the rhizosphere of healthy and diseased clonal black spruce (Picea mariana) plants was analyzed with regard to nursery production chronosequences. The four key production stages were sampled: mother plants (MP), 8-week-old cuttings (B + 0), second-year cuttings (B + 1), and third-year cuttings (B + 2). A total of 45 fungal taxa were isolated and identified based on cultural, phenotypic, and molecular characters. Members of phylum Ascomycota dominated, followed by Basidiomycota and Zygomycota. Diagnosis characters and distance analysis of the internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequences allowed the identification of 39 ascomycetous taxa. Many belong to the order Hypocreales, families Hypocreaceae and Nectriaceae, which contain many clusters of potentially pathogenic taxa (Cylindrocladium, Fusarium, and Neonectria) and are also ecologically associated with antagonistic taxa (Chaetomium, Hypocrea, Microsphaeropsis, Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Verticillium, Trichoderma, and Sporothrix). This is also the first report of a Cylindrocladium canadense association with disease symptoms and relation with Pestalotiopsis, Fusarium, Exserochilum, Rhizoctonia, and Xenochalara fungal consortia. Both production chronosequence and plant health considerably influenced fungal taxa assemblages. Unweighted pair-group arithmetic average clustering showed that isolates from MP, B + 0, and B + 1 plant rhizospheres clustered together within healthy or diseased health classes, whereas isolates from healthy and diseased B + 2 plants clustered together. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed substantial alteration in community assemblages with regard to plant health and yielded a principal axis direction that regrouped taxa associated with diseased plant rhizosphere soil, whereas the opposite axis direction was associated with healthy plants. Two diversity indices were defined and applied to assess the fungal taxa contribution (Tc) and persistence (Pi) throughout the production.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the NSERC-funded Biocontrol Network for financial support of this research. We also want to thank E. Zimmerman for critical review of the manuscript, and the “Centre de bouturage de Saint-Modeste,” Gouvernement du Québec-MRNF, for kindly giving permission to sample and providing technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal & Jardin botanique de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke street east, Montreal, Quebec, H1X 2B2, Canada

    V. Vujanovic & M. St-Arnaud

  2. Centre de foresterie des Laurentides, 1055 du PEPS street, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, G1V 4C7, Canada

    R. C. Hamelin

  3. Centre d’étude de la forêt, Pavillon Charles-Eugène-Marchand, Université Laval, Québec, Quebec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    L. Bernier

  4. Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2T8, Canada

    G. Vujanovic

  5. Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A8, Canada

    V. Vujanovic

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  1. V. Vujanovic
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  2. R. C. Hamelin
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  3. L. Bernier
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  4. G. Vujanovic
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  5. M. St-Arnaud
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Correspondence to V. Vujanovic or M. St-Arnaud.

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Vujanovic, V., Hamelin, R.C., Bernier, L. et al. Fungal Diversity, Dominance, and Community Structure in the Rhizosphere of Clonal Picea mariana Plants Throughout Nursery Production Chronosequences. Microb Ecol 54, 672–684 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9226-1

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