Study on community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Gentiana zollingeri (Gentianaceae)

Community of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in G. zollingeri collected from seven habitats in Japan was examined based on the reads of partial SSU rDNA obtained by PCR and Illumina sequencing to see the effect of AM fungal diversity on size, morphology, and 13C abundance of the shoots. Common colonization of the AM fungi that was found to be specific to the mycoheterotrophic seedlings was confirmed in the examined plants. Furthermore, in a linear model treating the shoot weight as a response variable, a significant effect of the AM fungal diversity was found along with the 13C abundance of the shoot.