root associated fungus metagenome Targeted loci environmental

Environment can change to create filters which affect fungal communities by benefiting or harming particular species and the influence of anthropogenic environmental filters should be clearly detectable in agricultural systems. However, the relationship between agricultural management and guild composition of root fungi remains to be clarified. In this study we used fields of coffee (Coffea arabica L.), as our focal system. We used high throughput sequencing of the ITS2 region of fungal DNA to elucidate how coffee rhizosphere fungal communities in conventional coffee fields differ from those under organic management. We hypothesized that differences in nutrient and substrate availability would lead to differences in richness and abundance of fungal species within guilds. We also hypothesized that conventional management would create environmental filters on rhizosphere fungi that would lead to lower diversity overall than in fungal communities on organic. Through this study of root fungal community composition, we improve the current understanding of the effects of agricultural management on the structure and function of belowground fungal communities.