Biomolecular mycorrhizal diversity in Azadirechta excelsa (Jack) Jacobs roots in habitats with different altitude

Abstract

Azadirechta excelsa is a member of the Meliaceae family with high economic value. This tree is widely planted in South Sumatra, especially in Bengkulu Province. The mutualism symbiosis between several Meliaceae plants and mycorrhiza plants has been studied. However, the diversity of mycorrhiza in the roots of A. excelsa is not well known. We conducted a biomolecular analysis of the roots of this tree species to find out in more detail the types of mycorrhiza associated with the roots and investigated habitat differences in altitude (highland and lowland) that affect mycorrhizal diversity. We used the DNA sequencing method from the roots of A. excelsa and amplified it through PCR using ITS primers forward ITS5.8S and reverse ITS4. We took 14 root samples of E. excelsa; 6 trees from the highland (959 m asl) and eight trees from the lowland (63m asl). The average age of the tree is eight years. The results of the sequencing identification from NCBI using the BLAST method found ten types of mycorrhiza from 4 families associated with A. excelsa roots. They are seven species from the Mycenaceae family (Mycena sp, Filoboletus manipularis, M. amicta, M. pura, M. rosea, M. citrinomarginata, and Favolaschia manipularis), one species from the Psathyrellaceae family (Psathyrella sp), one species from the Tricholomataceae family (Tricholomataceae sp), and one species from the Agaricaceae family (Agaricales sp). All of those types of mycorrhiza belong to the Agaricales order, the Agaricomycetes class from the Basidiomycota phylum. There was no specific type of mycorrhiza that occupied the roots of the tree. Thus, the difference in altitude did not affect the type of mycorrhiza on A. excelsa roots.