Principal Drivers of Fungal Communities Associated with Needles, Shoots, Roots and Adjacent Soil of Pinus sylvestris

Abstract

The plant- and soil-associated microbial communities are critical to plant health and their resilience to stressors, such as drought, pathogens, and pest outbreaks. A better understanding of the structure of microbial communities and how they are affected by different environmental factors is needed to predict and manage ecosystem responses to climate change. In this study, we carried out a country-wide analysis of fungal communities associated with Pinus sylvestris growing under different environmental conditions. Needle, shoot, root, mineral, and organic soil samples were collected at 30 sites. By interconnecting the high-throughput sequencing data, environmental variables, and soil chemical properties, we were able to identify key factors that drive the diversity and composition of fungal communities associated with P. sylvestris. The fungal species richness and community composition were also found to be highly dependent on the site and the substrate they colonize. The results demonstrated that different functional tissues and the rhizosphere soil of P. sylvestris are associated with diverse fungal communities, which are driven by a combination of climatic (temperature and precipitation) and edaphic factors (soil pH), and stand characteristics.

Biogeography of Fungal Communities Associated with Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. along the Latitudinal Gradient in Europe

“…In both P. sylvestris and P. abies samples, S. polyspora, a widespread saprotrophic and/or pathogenic [108] species living on conifers [109], was identified as the most common fungal species. This fungus, as one of the most common in pine and spruce tissues, was also identified during previous studies [74,110]. Although S. polyspora often occurs as an epiphyte or endophyte of conifers [111], some authors suggest that the fungus can become pathogenic in a colonized host under the influence of certain abiotic and biotic factors [112].…”

“…Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly is essential for predicting compositional responses to changing environments [ 65 ]. At the same time, existing studies often emphasize the role of environmental variables as one of the main driving factors determining the abundance and composition of fungal communities [ 73 , 74 ]. Therefore, the integration of several bioclimatic variables representing temperature (BIO1-BIO11) and precipitation (BIO12-BIO19) ( Table 2 ) in fungal community modeling revealed their relative importance determining fungal species richness ( Figure 6 A,B), diversity ( Figure 6 C), and fungal community composition associated with needles, shoots, roots, and the rhizosphere soil of each tree species ( Figure 7 A–D).…”

“…For both P. sylvestris and P. abies , in different study sites and substrates the most abundant fungal phyla were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which are known to dominate among fungi colonizing soils and terrestrial plant tissues [ 74 ]. In agreement with other studies, our results demonstrated high ecological importance and wide distribution of these phyla in soils (e.g., Wei et al [ 35 ]; Zheng et al [ 65 ]), roots (e.g., Zhao et al [ 90 ]), needles (e.g., Agan et al [ 91 ]) and shoots (e.g., Sanz-Ros et al [ 92 ]).…”

“…In a study by de Melo et al [ 120 ] in Brazil, P. camemberti was isolated from soil samples collected in Cerrado State Park. The fungus was previously also isolated from soil samples collected in Söğütlük Forests of Edirne City, in Turkey [ 121 ], as well as in different P. sylvestris stands in Lithuania [ 74 , 122 ]. Although P. camemberti was found in soils in various forests and other natural ecosystems, its role remains largely unknown and requires further attention.…”

Diversity and Composition of Belowground Fungal Communities Associated with Picea abies L. (H.) Karst. and Larix sp. Mill.: A Comparative Study

“…For DNA extraction, 30 mg of this powder per sample was used. The total DNA was extracted using the CTAB method as presented by Marčiulynien ė et al (2022) [48]. The concentration of genomic DNA was determined using a NanoDrop™ One spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, Rochester, NY, USA) and diluted to 10 ng/µL.…”