Root fungal communities in conifer populations under different latitudinal light environments

Global warming is driving plant range shifts towards higher latitudes, where plants encounter different light environment compared to which they have adapted. Light environment, which exhibits different photoperiodic and spectral compositions across latitudes, regulates growth of many tree species. This project focuses on studying responses of host trees (Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies) originating from different latitudinal populations and their root-associated fungi to different light environment. We apply experimental setup where plants are grown under similar temperature but different natural light conditions in southern (60°N) and northern (69°N) Finland (Simulated Southern Climate experiment, SSC). Root-associated fungal communities are determined by sequencing fungal rDNA on ITS2 region on Ion Torrent PGM platform.