Infrageneric variation in partner specificity: multiple ectomycorrhizal symbionts associate with Gnetum gnemon (Gnetophyta) in Papua New Guinea

• Published in: Mycorrhiza Vol. 22; no. 8; pp. 663 - 668
• Main Authors: Tedersoo, Leho, Põlme, Sergei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.11.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Alnus; Base Sequence; Basidiomycota; Basidiomycota - classification; Basidiomycota - genetics; Basidiomycota - isolation & purification; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; chemistry; classification; Coniferophyta; DNA, Fungal; DNA, Fungal - chemistry; DNA, Fungal - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer - genetics; Ecology; Economic plant physiology; ectomycorrhizae; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; fungi; genetics; Gnetum; Gnetum - microbiology; Gnetum gnemon; isolation & purification; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mycorrhizae; Mycorrhizae - classification; Mycorrhizae - genetics; Mycorrhizae - isolation & purification; Papua New Guinea; Parasitism and symbiosis; Phylogeny; Pisonia grandis; Plant physiology and development; Plant Roots; Plant Roots - microbiology; Plant Sciences; Plant species; root tips; Seedlings; Seedlings - microbiology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Short Note; Species Specificity; symbionts; Symbiosis; Symbiosis (nodules, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, mycorrhiza...); Trees; understory; Papua New Guinea; Melanesia; Oceania; Gnetaceae; Host specificity; Ectomycorrhizal fungi; Fungi; Symbiosis; Tropical zone; Mycorrhiza; Ectomycorrhiza; Scleroderma; Symbiont
• ISSN: 0940-6360; 1432-1890; 1432-1890
• DOI: 10.1007/s00572-012-0458-7

Majority of autotrophic plants and fungi associate with multiple mycorrhizal partners, with notable exceptions being Gnetum africanum, Pisonia grandis, and Alnus spp from the phytobiont perspective. We hypothesized that an understorey tree species Gnetum gnemon hosts a narrow range of mycobionts as shown in G. africanum and suggested for South American species. Sampling and molecular analysis of G. gnemon root tips revealed that besides Scleroderma spp. this gymnosperm tree associates with several fungal species from unrelated lineages. However, all Scleroderma isolates that associate with Gnetum spp. belong to a narrow clade close to Scleroderma sinnamariense. Our results demonstrate for the first time that specificity for mycobionts may substantially differ within an ectomycorrhizal plant genus.