Root Associated Fungi in New Brunswick Caves and Mines

Although fungal-root interactions are fundamental to tree health, there is no research on fungal root associates within caves. This study provides the first comprehensive list of root-associated fungi found in caves and mines. The fungal biodiversity of aeroponic roots collected from caves and mines in New Brunswick, Canada were assessed by Illumina sequencing using three primer sets that targeted two different regions of the ribosomal RNA gene, the D1 variable region of the large ribosomal subunit DNA and the internal transcribed spacer 2 region.