<b>Fungal endophyte symbionts enhance plant adaptation in Antarctic habitats: </b><b>Reciprocal transplant data</b>

The data reports the results from a field reciprocal transplant involving the vascular flora of the Antarctic tundra (<i>Colobanthus quitensis </i>and<i> Deschampsia antarctica</i>), an extreme environment where fungal endophytes are known for playing important ecological roles. After characterizing the root-associated fungal endophyte communities of both species in two distinct Antarctic terrestrial habitats—namely, hill and coast—we experimentally assessed the contribution of fungal endophytes to plant adaptation in each habitat. The field reciprocal transplant experiment involved removing endophytes from a set of plants and crossing symbiotic status (with [E+] and without endophytes [E-]) with habitat for both species, aiming to assess plant performance and fitness. Plant individual responses included their level of lipid peroxidation (tbars), foliar proline concentration, <i>NHX1</i> relative gene expression, final biomass and plant survival.本数据集记录了针对南极苔原维管植物（南极漆姑草<i>Colobanthus quitensis</i>与南极发草<i>Deschampsia antarctica</i>）开展的野外互惠移植试验结果。该极端环境中，真菌内生菌已被证实发挥着关键生态功能。研究团队先对两种植物在南极两类典型陆地生境（丘陵与海岸）下的根系相关真菌内生菌群落进行了表征，随后通过实验评估了真菌内生菌对各生境中植物适应性的贡献。本次野外互惠移植试验通过移除部分植株的内生菌，将两种植物的共生状态（带内生菌的[E+]与无内生菌的[E-]）与生境进行交叉组合，旨在评估植株的生长表现与适合度。植株个体的响应指标包括脂质过氧化水平（tbars）、叶片脯氨酸浓度、<i>NHX1</i>基因相对表达量、最终生物量以及植株存活率。