Core mycobiota of Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii seeds

Fungal symbionts occur in all plant tissues, and many aid their host plants with critical functions, including nutrient acquisition, defense against pathogens, and tolerance of abiotic stress. "Core" taxa in the plant mycobiome, defined as fungi present across individuals, populations or time, may be particularly beneficial to a host species given their ubiquity. Such core taxa could be crucial to the survival of seeds, and to mycobiome assembly during seedling establishment. However, previous studies have primarily identified pathogenic fungi in plant seeds, raising the question of whether core taxa exist in seeds. We addressed this question using both culture-based and culture-free techniques to identify fungi found in individual seeds collected from nine provenances of Coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii).