Community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with pioneer grass species Miscanthus sinensis in acid sulfate soils:: Habitat segregation along pH gradients

Acid sulfate soil has an extremely low pH and revegetation of the soil is difficult because of the high concentration of toxic elements, such as aluminum, and poor nutrient availability. Community compositions of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that associate with Miscanthus sinensis, a pioneer grass species that occurs in acid sulfate soil, were investigated to clarify the environmental factors that regulate the community structure. The rhizosphere soils of M. sinensis growing in acid sulfate soils were collected from three sites distributed in subarctic, temperate and subtropical zones. Rhizosphere soils of plants growing in a sandy soil site in a subarctic zone were also collected. Miscanthus sinensis seedlings were grown on these soils in a greenhouse for 2 months and a large subunit ribosomal RNA gene of the fungi was amplified from DNA extracted from the roots. Based on the nucleotide sequences of the gene, 20 phylotypes across six genera were detected from the four sites. The similarity indices of AM fungal communities among the sites did not correlate with geographical distance. Ordination analysis (principal component analysis) on the communities suggested that the first principal component reflected edaphic factors, particularly soil pH. Plotting of soil pH data at which respective phylotypes occurred and subsequent statistical analysis revealed that the ranges of preferential pH were significantly different among the phylotypes. The distribution of AM fungal phylotypes along pH gradients was further recognized by plotting the first principal component scores of the phylotypes against their preferential pH. The phylotypes that showed higher scores along the second principal component were detected from three or more sites and occurred over a wide range of pH values. These observations suggest that the preference and range of substrate pH to which the fungi can adapt are different among the phylotypes and soil pH might be a likely driving force for structuring AM fungal communities in acid sulfate soils.