Data from: AM fungal spore communities and networks demonstrate host-specific variation throughout the growing season

Microbial community assembly is a series of ecological filtering
mechanisms that determine the composition of microbial
communities.  While the importance of broad and local level
factors on microbial communities has been reasonably well studied, this
work is often limited to static observations and neglects to consider
temporal variation.  Since temporal variation is an important
determinant of community assembly and determines the relative importance
of community assembly filters, this represents a key knowledge
gap.  Due to their close associations with seasonal variation in
plant growth and fitness, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are useful
groups for assessing the importance of temporal dynamics in microbial
community assembly.  We tested how seasonal variation (spring vs.
summer), plant life history stage (vegetative vs. flowering), and host
plant species (Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea & Andropogon
gerardii) influenced AM fungal spore community assembly.  AM
fungal spore community temporal dynamics were closely linked to plant host
species and life history stage.  While AM fungal communities
demonstrated strong turnover between the spring (e.g., higher sporulation)
and late summer (e.g., higher diversity), the strength and direction of
these changes was modified by host plant species.  Here we
demonstrate the importance of considering temporal variation in microbial
community assembly, and also show how plant-microbe interactions can
modify seasonal trends in microbial community dynamics.

微生物群落组装是一系列决定微生物群落组成的生态过滤机制。尽管宏观与局域因子对微生物群落的重要性已有较为充分的研究，但此类研究往往局限于静态观测，忽视了时间维度的变异。由于时间变异是群落组装的重要决定因素，且可调控群落组装过滤机制的相对重要性，这一问题构成了关键的认知空白。鉴于丛枝菌根（arbuscular mycorrhizal, AM）真菌与植物生长及适合度的季节变异密切相关，它们是评估微生物群落组装中时间动态重要性的理想类群。本研究探究了季节变异（春季与夏季）、植物生活史阶段（营养生长期与开花期）以及宿主植物物种（Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea与Andropogon gerardii）对丛枝菌根真菌孢子群落组装的影响。结果显示，丛枝菌根真菌孢子群落的时间动态与宿主植物物种及生活史阶段密切相关。尽管丛枝菌根真菌群落在春季（如孢子形成量更高）与夏末（如多样性更高）之间存在显著的群落周转，但这些变化的强度与方向会因宿主植物物种而异。本研究证实了在微生物群落组装研究中考虑时间变异的重要性，同时揭示了植物-微生物互作如何调控微生物群落动态的季节趋势。