Differences in the fungal communities nursed by two genetic groups of the alpine cushion plant, Silene acaulis
Foundation plants shape the composition of local biotic communities and abiotic en ‐ vironments, but the impact of a plant’s intraspecific variations on these processes is poorly understood. We examined these links in the alpine cushion moss campion ( Silene acaulis ) on two neighboring mountain ran...
| Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://prodinra.inra.fr/ft/0C74115E-3083-435F-9C64-ECF990222EF7 http://prodinra.inra.fr/record/453151 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4606 |
| Summary: | Foundation plants shape the composition of local biotic communities and abiotic en ‐ vironments, but the impact of a plant’s intraspecific variations on these processes is poorly understood. We examined these links in the alpine cushion moss campion ( Silene acaulis ) on two neighboring mountain ranges in the French Alps. Genotyping of cushion plants revealed two genetic clusters matching known subspecies. The ex ‐ scapa subspecies was found on both limestone and granite, while the longiscapa one was only found on limestone. Even on similar limestone bedrock, cushion soils from the two S. acaulis subspecies deeply differed in their impact on soil abiotic condi ‐ tions. They further strikingly differed from each other and from the surrounding bare soils in fungal community composition. Plant genotype variations accounted for a large part of the fungal composition variability in cushion soils, even when consider ‐ ing geography or soil chemistry, and particularly for the dominant molecular opera ‐ tional taxonomic units (MOTUs). Both saprophytic and biotrophic fungal taxa were related to the MOTUs recurrently associated with a single plant genetic cluster. Moreover, the putative phytopathogens were abundant, and within the same genus ( Cladosporium ) or species ( Pyrenopeziza brassicae ), MOTUs showing specificity for each plant subspecies were found. Our study highlights the combined influences of bedrock and plant genotype on fungal recruitment into cushion soils and suggests the coexistence of two mechanisms, an indirect selection resulting from the coloniza ‐ tion of an engineered soil by free‐living saprobes and a direct selection resulting from direct plant–fungi interactions. |
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