Mexican dry seasonal tropical forest Glomeromycota targeted loci. soil metagenome

The Glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; AMF) are the most common and widespread fungal symbionts of terrestrial plants, but functional taxonomic groups, rules of community assembly, and the extent of cryptic species diversity remains largely unresolved, particularly in tropical systems. We used Illumina sequencing of an amplified ribosomal small-subunit barcode region in mixed soil and root samples collected from dry seasonal tropical forests at two locations in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico in both the wet and dry seasons in order to validate the effectiveness of the novel Illumina-adapted primer constructs, assess environmental AMF species richness and diversity, and explore the roles of seasonal drought and nutrient availability as drivers of AMF community structure.