Fungal microbiome in forest soils near Pinus trees

This project investigates the fungal microbiome in forest soils in Flanders near Pinus nigra subsp. laricio and Pinus sylvestris trees in conifer woods. The trees were visually inspected and classified according to their health (some trees suffered Sphaeropsis sapinea infection). ITS2 metabarcoding was used to characterize the soil fungal community, and more specifically the ectomycorrhizal community. The total soil fungal community was found to be different between the two tree species, while the ectomycorrhizal community was much more similar. No clear difference was found between the relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi in healthy and diseased trees. Remarkably, in Pinus nigra subsp. laricio, trees recovering from disease seemed to have relatively more ectomycorrhizal fungi than other trees.