Data from: Genotypic diversity in root-endophytic fungi reflects efficient dispersal and environmental adaptation

Studying community structure and dynamics of plant-associated fungi is the
basis for unravelling their interactions with hosts and ecosystem
functions. A recent sampling revealed that only a few fungal groups, as
defined by internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) sequence similarity,
dominate culturable root endophytic communities of nonmycorrhizal
Microthlaspi spp. plants across Europe. Strains of these fungi display a
broad phenotypic and functional diversity, which suggests a genetic
variability masked by ITS clustering into operational taxonomic units
(OTUs). The aims of this study were to identify how genetic similarity
patterns of these fungi change across environments and to evaluate their
ability to disperse and adapt to ecological conditions. A first ITS-based
haplotype analysis of ten widespread OTUs mostly showed a low to moderate
genotypic differentiation, with the exception of a group identified as
Cadophora sp. that was highly diverse. A multilocus phylogeny based on
additional genetic loci (partial translation elongation factor 1α,
beta-tubulin and actin) and amplified fragment length polymorphism
profiling of 185 strains representative of the five dominant OTUs revealed
a weak association of genetic differences with geography and environmental
conditions, including bioclimatic and soil factors. Our findings suggest
that dominant culturable root endophytic fungi have efficient dispersal
capabilities, and that their distribution is little affected by
environmental filtering. Other processes, such as inter- and intraspecific
biotic interactions, may be more important for the local assembly of their
communities.