Root fungi isolated from common Louisiana marsh plants 2017-18.

Nearly all plants are colonized by fungal endophytes, and a growing body of work shows that both environment and host species shape plant-associated fungal communities. However, few studies place their work in a phylogenetic context to understand endophyte community assembly through an evolutionary lens. Here we collected data to investigate environmental and host effects on root endophyte assemblages in coastal Louisiana marshes. We isolated and sequenced culturable fungal endophytes from roots of three-four dominant plant species from each of three sites of varying salinity. We provide data on abundance and taxonomy of the isolated fungal taxa as well as phylogenetic diversity (mean phylogenetic distance, MPD) and phylogenetic composition (based on MPD).