Dataset Information

Lost in diversity: the interactions between soil-borne fungi, biodiversity and plant productivity.

ABSTRACT: There is consensus that plant species richness enhances plant productivity within natural grasslands, but the underlying drivers remain debated. Recently, differential accumulation of soil-borne fungal pathogens across the plant diversity gradient has been proposed as a cause of this pattern. However, the below-ground environment has generally been treated as a 'black box' in biodiversity experiments, leaving these fungi unidentified. Using next generation sequencing and pathogenicity assays, we analysed the community composition of root-associated fungi from a biodiversity experiment to examine if evidence exists for host specificity and negative density dependence in the interplay between soil-borne fungi, plant diversity and productivity. Plant species were colonised by distinct (pathogenic) fungal communities and isolated fungal species showed negative, species-specific effects on plant growth. Moreover, 57% of the pathogenic fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) recorded in plant monocultures were not detected in eight plant species plots, suggesting a loss of pathogenic OTUs with plant diversity. Our work provides strong evidence for host specificity and negative density-dependent effects of root-associated fungi on plant species in grasslands. Our work substantiates the hypothesis that fungal root pathogens are an important driver of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.

SUBMITTER: Mommer L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5887887 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Lost in diversity: the interactions between soil-borne fungi, biodiversity and plant productivity.

Mommer Liesje L Cotton T E Anne TEA Raaijmakers Jos M JM Termorshuizen Aad J AJ van Ruijven Jasper J Hendriks Marloes M van Rijssel Sophia Q SQ van de Mortel Judith E JE van der Paauw Jan Willem JW Schijlen Elio G W M EGWM Smit-Tiekstra Annemiek E AE Berendse Frank F de Kroon Hans H Dumbrell Alex J AJ

The New phytologist 20180222 2

There is consensus that plant species richness enhances plant productivity within natural grasslands, but the underlying drivers remain debated. Recently, differential accumulation of soil-borne fungal pathogens across the plant diversity gradient has been proposed as a cause of this pattern. However, the below-ground environment has generally been treated as a 'black box' in biodiversity experiments, leaving these fungi unidentified. Using next generation sequencing and pathogenicity assays, we ...[more]

PMID: 29468690

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Dataset Information

Lost in diversity: the interactions between soil-borne fungi, biodiversity and plant productivity.

Publications

Lost in diversity: the interactions between soil-borne fungi, biodiversity and plant productivity.

Similar Datasets

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