Effect of a nutrient gradient on mycorrhizal fungal communities, physicochemical parameters of the soil and Zea maize fitness

Fertilization is generally anticipated to decrease plant investment into arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbionts. Some studies have evidenced fertilization-tolerant AM fungal taxa, yet little is known about their natural abundance in unfertilized settings. Even less is known regarding their response to fine-scale independent variations in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), even though plant allocation to AM fungi is known to depend on N:P stoichiometry. Here, we conducted a greenhouse study implementing a full factorial gradient of 7 N levels (0 to 160 ppm) and 7 P levels (0 to 127 ppm) and characterized AM fungal community structure using amplicon sequencing (Illumina MiSeq).

施肥通常被认为会降低植物对丛枝菌根（arbuscular mycorrhizal, AM）共生体的资源投入。已有研究证实存在耐施肥的AM真菌类群，但目前对这类类群在未施肥生境中的自然丰度仍知之甚少。尽管已知植物对AM真菌的资源分配依赖于氮磷（N:P）化学计量比，但关于这类类群对氮（N）、磷（P）的细尺度独立变异的响应，我们的认知则更为匮乏。本研究开展了一项温室控制实验，设置7个氮（N）水平（0~160 ppm）与7个磷（P）水平（0~127 ppm）的全因子梯度处理，并通过扩增子测序（Illumina MiSeq平台）对AM真菌群落结构进行了表征。