Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Dominance of a Rhizopogon sister species corresponds to forest age structure

  • Short Note
  • Published:
Mycorrhiza Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rhizopogon vesiculosus and Rhizopogon vinicolor are sister species of ectomycorrhizal fungi that associate exclusively with Douglas-fir (DF). They form tuberculate mycorrhizas and they can be easily distinguished using molecular tools. We are not aware of studies relating their relative abundance in forests with different age classes. Our objective was to determine whether a change in the number or relative abundance of R. vesiculosus and R. vinicolor tubercules and genotypes was related to a change in the percent of DF in a regenerating phase (<50 years old). R. vesiculosus and R. vinicolor were located by excavating tuberculate mycorrhizas from the forest floor. A DNA Alu1 digest was used to distinguish between the two species. Microsatellite markers were used to identify genotypes. The number of R. vesiculosus tubercules correlated positively with an increasing proportion of DF in a regenerating phase, while the number of R. vinicolor tubercules was similar across all forest age structures. The number of R. vesiculosus genotypes did not correlate with forest age structure, whereas the number of R. vinicolor genotypes showed a negative relationship with an increasing proportion of DF in a regenerating phase. When the numbers of R. vesiculosus tubercules and genotypes were expressed as a relative abundance of the two species, there was a positive correlation with an increasing proportion of DF in a regenerating phase for both genotypes and tubercules. Our results suggest that the degree of DF regeneration or ecosystem factors related to DF regeneration affect the population dynamics of R. vesiculosus and R. vinicolor differently.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Agerer R (2001) Exploration types of ectomycorrhizae. Mycorrhiza 11:107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beiler KJ, Durall DM, Simard SW, Maxwell SA, Kretzer AM (2010) Architecture of the wood-wide web: Rhizopogon spp. genets link multiple Douglas-fir cohorts. New Phytol 185:543–53

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beiler KJ, Simard SW, LeMay V, Durall DM (2012) Vertical partitioning between sister species of Rhizopogon fungi on mesic and xeric sites in an interior Douglas-fir forest. Mol Ecol 21:6163–74

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beiler KJ, Simard SW, Durall DM (2015) Topology of tree-mycorrhizal fungal interaction networks in xeric and mesic Douglas-fir forests. J Ecol doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12387

  • Brownlee C, Duddridge JA, Malibari A, Read DJ (1983) The structure and function of mycelial systems of ectomycorrhizal roots with special reference to their role in forming inter-plant connections and providing pathways for assimilate and water transport. Plant Soil 71:433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellano MA, Trappe JM (1985) Ectomycorrhizal formation and plantation performance of Douglas-fir nursery stock inoculated with Rhizopogon spores. Can J For Res 15:613–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dosskey MG, Boersma L, Linderman RG (1991) Role for the photosynthate demand of ectomycorrhizas in the response of Douglas-fir seedlings to drying soil. New Phytol 117:327–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham SM, Mujic AB, Spatafora JW, Kretzer AM (2013) Within-population genetic structure differs between two sympatric sister-species of ectomycorrhizal fungi, Rhizopogon vinicolor and R. vesiculosus. Mycologia 105:814–26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Egerton-Warburton LM, Querejeta JI, Allen MF (2007) Common mycorrhizal networks provide a potential pathway for the transfer of hydraulically lifted water between plants. J Exp Bot 58:1473–83

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grubisha LC, Trappe JM, Molina R, Spatafora JW (2002) Biology of the ectomycorrhizal genus Rhizopogon. VI. Re-examination of infrageneric relationships inferred from phylogenetic analyses of ITS sequences. Mycologia 94:607–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Izzo A, Canright M, Bruns TD (2006) The effects of heat treatments on ectomycorrhizal resistance propagules and their ability to colonize bioassay seedlings. Mycol Res 110:196–202

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzer AM, Dunham S, Molina R, Spatafora JW (2003a) Microsatellite markers reveal the below ground distribution of genets in two species of Rhizopogon forming tuberculate ectomycorrhizas on Douglas fir. New Phytol 161:313–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzer AM, Dunham S, Molina R, Spatafora JW (2005) Patterns of vegetative growth and gene flow in Rhizopogon vinicolor and R. vesiculosus (Boletales, Basidiomycota). Mol Ecol 14:2259–2268

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzer AM, Louma DL, Molina R, Spatafora JW (2003b) Taxonomy of the Rhizopogon vinicolor species complex based on analysis of ITS sequences and microsatellite loci. Mycologia 95:480–487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzer AM, Molina R, Spatafora JW (2000) Microsatellite markers for the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Rhizopogon vinicolor. Mol Ecol 9:1190–1191

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • LeMay V, Pommerening A, Marshall P (2009) Spatio-temporal structure of multi-storied, multi-aged interior Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) stands. J Ecol 97:1062–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd DA, Angove D, Hope G, Thompson C (1990) A guide to site identification and interpretation for the Kamloops Forest Region. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Victoria, BC

    Google Scholar 

  • Louma D, Durall D, Eberhart JL, Sidlar K (2011) Rediscovery of the vesicles that characterized Rhizopogon vesiculosus. Mycologia 103:1074–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molina R, Trappe JM, Grubisha LC, Spatafora JW (1999) Rhizopogon. In: Ectomycorrhizal fungi: key genera in profile. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 129–160

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mujic AB, Kennedy PG, Durall DM, Spatafora JW (2014) On living with family: factors affecting the vertical distribution of the ectomycorrhizal sister species Rhizopogon vinicolor and Rhizopogon vesiculosus in soil. Presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of The Mycological Society of America, June 10, Lansing MI http://msaconference.org/engine/search/index.php?func=detail&aid=134

  • Peay KG, Garbelotto M, Bruns TD (2009) Spore heat resistance plays an important role in disturbance-mediated assemblage shift of ectomycorrhizal fungi colonizing Pinus muricata seedlings. J Ecol 97:537–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peay K, Kennedy P, Bruns T (2011) Rethinking ectomycorrhizal succession: are root density and hyphal exploration types drivers of spatial and temporal zonation? Fungal Ecol 4:233–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parke JL, Linderman RG, Black CH (1983) The role of ectomycorrhizas in drought tolerance of Douglas-fir seedlings. New Phytol 95:83–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peakall R, Smouse PE (2012) GenAlEx 6.5: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research—an update. Bioinformatics 28:2537–9

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Core Team R (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, URL http://www.R-project.org/. ISBN 3-900051-07-0

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson AD, Statland CB, Gregoire TG (2003) Root biomass distribution under three cover types in a patchy Pseudotsuga menziesii forest in western Canada. Ann For Sci 60:469–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simard SW (2009) The foundational role of mycorrhizal networks in self-organization of interior Douglas-fir forests. For Ecol Manage 258:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AH (1964) Rhizopogon: a curious genus of false truffles. Michigan Bot 3:13–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Teste FP, Simard SW, Durall DM, Guy RD, Berch SM (2010) Net carbon transfer between Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca seedlings in the field is influenced by soil disturbance. J Ecol 98:429–439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Twieg BD, Durall DM, Simard SW (2007) Ectomycorrhizal fungal succession in mixed temperate forests. New Phytol 176:437–47

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wickham H (2009) ggplot2: elegant graphics for data analysis (Google eBook). Springer Science & Business Media

  • Zak B (1971) Characterization and classification of mycorrhizae of Douglas-fir. 11. Pseudotsuga menziesii + Rhizopogon vinicolor. Can J Bot 49:1079–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Suzanne Simard and Jean Mather who helped to select the study plots and Jen Buchanan, Nick Johansen, Scott Hamilton, and Andrea Demoskoff who helped to sample tubercules. We would like to thank Trevor Blenner-Hassett for the assistance with sample mapping and Sheri Maxwell and Mansak Tantikachornkiat for running all of the fragment analysis. We would also like to thank Christopher Hodgkinson for the assistance with data management, Alija Bajro Mujic and Dan Louma for their contributions of their ideas during the writing stage, and Melanie Jones and Suzanne Simard for their comments on the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This research was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant to Daniel Durall.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit 2 Biology Department, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus 1177 Research Road, Science Building, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada

    Carrie H. Van Dorp & Daniel M. Durall

  2. Life Sciences and Technology Department, Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Kevin J. Beiler

Authors
  1. Carrie H. Van Dorp
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kevin J. Beiler
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Daniel M. Durall
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel M. Durall.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Van Dorp, C.H., Beiler, K.J. & Durall, D.M. Dominance of a Rhizopogon sister species corresponds to forest age structure. Mycorrhiza 26, 169–175 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-015-0660-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-015-0660-5

Keywords